“We see Him, Who is in the form of God, counting not equality with God a prize to be grasped at and hung on to, but letting it go for us and taking upon Him the form of a Servant-God’s Servant, man’s Servant. We see Him willing to have no rights of His own, no home of His own, no possessions of His own, willing to let men revile Him and not revile again, willing to let men tread on Him and not retaliate or defend Himself. Above all, we see Him broken as He meekly goes to Calvary to become men’s scapegoat by bearing their sins in His own body on the Tree.” Hession, Roy. The Calvary Road (Kindle locations 120-123). Kindle Edition.
At the cross, we get this vision of love, this image of what Jesus went through for us, what He accomplished for us. And it is this vision of love that begins to break our hard hearts and humble our pride. It is the vision of Jesus’ brokenness that breaks our hearts and gives us godly sorrow that leads to repentance.
So often go to the cross, kneel in humility, look up at Jesus and see how He became the Man of Sorrows in His death for you. Let the cross work deep sorrow in you, to burst every vessel in your heart, and to cover all the brokenness in love.
We see that we are to indeed go to the cross and fixate on Jesus there, by the following passage:
Hebrews 12:2-4 NIV fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (3) Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (4) In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
Question 3. According to Hebrews 12:2-4, on what are we told to fix our eyes?
Second, confess your sin openly to those you have hurt (though do not confess details so as to plant pictures in their minds), and ask their forgiveness.
As we confess our sins and ask forgiveness, we are rejecting deception and aligning ourselves with truth, and this brings a perspective that we did not have before when we hid our sin. Our eyes become opened to the real damage we did to those we love. It can produce in us a genuine zeal to completely repent, to entirely change our ways, to live in a radically different way.
Proverbs 28:13-14 NIV Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy. (14) Blessed is the one who always trembles before God, but whoever hardens their heart falls into trouble.
Question 4. According to Proverbs 28:13-14, what happens if we conceal our sin, and what happens if we confess and renounce them?