Devotions: Open Compassion

He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper,
But he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion.

Proverbs 28:13 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

This verse is a key theme in the Bible, especially the New Testament. We only find life and compassion if we confess our sins. Hiding them is arrogant, it is saying that we can do what we want and God will never know. How ignorantly pompous! God knows and sees everything, even before it happens. How could we hope to get away with anything? Our sins always find us out, and we always face consequences for them. But if we truly confess our sins, we will find compassion and the consequences will not be as bad as they could have been. By hiding sin, we may save face but we suffer worse. We can see the truth of this in daily relationships when spouses or children try to hide what they have done. It never works. And though part of the excuse is that they wanted to spare the other person the pain, having it hidden actually makes the pain worse. The best way to maintain good relationships is honesty and openness. The best way to destroy a marriage is to hide what you have done. Be willingly open, humbly confess what you have done wrong and turn away from it (don’t just apologize so the other person won’t be mad at you.) Then you will find compassion and restore your relationships.

To see a video of this devo, visit my facebook page www.facebook.com/evelynbray15