Proverb for Today

He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. (Proverbs 28:13, MEV)

Devotional Thought

Cover ups.

We hate them. But we’ve grown to expect them.

I don’t know that any of us are surprised when we hear about a cover up on the news. And while we’re quick to condemn these scandals, I have to wonder how often we’re guilty of the same type of actions, just maybe not on a national scale.

I don’t like confrontation. I don’t like conflict. Often, I try to justify covering up a sin or fault by saying it’s a way to avoid tension and hurt. But this just isn’t true.

If I do wrong and hide it, I’m making the issue worse, and making it easier to fail longer term.

In times of wrong, we all want mercy and forgiveness, but often cower in fear, using our faulty logic to rationalize sweeping our actions under the rug. We’ve all been doing this for so long, we’ve created habits around this type of secrecy, and established unhealthy patterns in our lives.

When we do wrong, we must be willing to be honest with ourselves. We messed up.

Then we must be willing to be honest with those we wronged. We are in the wrong.

And we must be willing to humbly confess and commit to forsake the sin. We make things right.

The temptation to cover our sin up is a strong one, because it seems so easy. But doing so creates a long-term, disastrous effect, a ticking time bomb, if you will, waiting to explode.

I know it’s hard, but make things right today. Don’t wait. Don’t excuse yourself. Don’t avoid resolution. Confess and forsake.

Reflect and Respond

• • Think back to the last time you were caught in a cover up. How much worse was getting caught than simply confessing up front?
  • How have you been justifying your cover ups? What is wrong with this type of thought process? How does this play out long term?
  • How can you establish better accountability to avoid cover ups in the future?