You’ve probably seen this scene in a movie. After many hours of questioning, an interrogation officer moves a light directly into his suspect’s eyes. He slams the table and shouts, “Admit it!” The suspect breaks down and pours his heart out. The police get their man, and it’s a job well done.
Admitting guilt is not easy. We will go to great lengths to keep our worst sins to ourselves. Because, if we admit our faults, we might hurt our reputation. Or worse, we might have to give them up.
No good comes from keeping sins secret. You rob yourself of an opportunity to repent, and you also open yourself up to more sin. This was King David’s great failure. “David did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite” (1 Kgs. 15:5, NKJV).
In 2 Samuel 11, David gave in to temptation and took another man’s wife for himself. When Bathsheba became pregnant, David didn’t do the right thing and admit his guilt. Instead, he looked for ways to cover it up. When his plans failed he sent Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, to die in battle. David then went about his life like nothing had happened. As far as he was concerned, he got away with it, and no one was the wiser. But the Lord knew.
Because of these sins, David’s family was plagued with turmoil including the death of his child. It was only when he was confronted by Nathan, the prophet, that he finally admitted his sin (2 Sam. 12:13). When he did, God forgave him immediately. If David admitted his sin from the start, he would have been saved from far greater sorrow.
It is hard to admit when we do wrong, especially when we think can keep our secret from getting out. Like David, we go about our lives like nothing is wrong, feeling good about ourselves.
God knows the secrets of the heart (Psa. 44:21). Sins have consequences, whether they are found out or not. By refusing to repent of them, we dig a deeper and deeper hole to get out of. But, if we would just admit it, we can make the changes we need to be in a right relationship with God, and He will forgive us (1 Jn. 1:9).
The day will come for each of us when we will be under the light of the Judge of Heaven, and there will no longer be an opportunity to admit our guilt. If you are a Christian and have secret sin, just admit it, and God will forgive you as quickly as He forgave King David. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn. 1:9).