READ: ISAIAH 1:18; 1 JOHN 1:6–2:2

Have you ever accidentally folded a basket of dirty laundry? At first, you probably didn’t even notice the clothes weren’t clean. But, when you took a closer look (or smell), you could probably tell that the clothes had been worn. If you decided to just fold them up and put them away, you wouldn’t deceive anyone—soon enough it would become apparent that the clothes hadn’t been washed. Hiding it doesn’t help.

It’s the same way when we sin. If we try to hide things we’ve done wrong, we only deceive ourselves. If we try to convince ourselves that some wrong thing we’ve done is not so bad and isn’t really sin, we may sometimes manage to fool ourselves and even other people, but we can’t fool God. That’s why we should never try to hide our sin. Instead, God calls us to confess it to Him and rest in His forgiveness.

The truth is, our sins—even the “small” ones—are such a big deal that Jesus went to the cross to pay the punishment we deserved, and then He rose from the grave so we could be made righteous in God’s sight. If we’ve put our trust in Jesus, all our sins are forgiven—past, present, and future. It’s all been dealt with on the cross. Jesus has given us His righteousness, and we’ve become new people. But, until Jesus returns to renew the world, we still sin. And God knows that. There’s no use trying to hide it, and we don’t need to. God sees us with grace and mercy. And even when we still struggle with feelings of guilt and shame, He invites us to come to Him.

Trying to hide our sin from anyone—including ourselves—only creates more hurt. But admitting our sin and coming to Jesus with it helps us remember and experience His grace and love. And that can help us extend grace and love to others. Because the truth is, sin is real, even when we don’t want to admit it. But, praise God, His grace is even more real. • A. W. Smith

• Is there any sin that you’ve been struggling to admit to yourself? Consider the following questions, either by yourself or with another trusted Christian: Why is this particular sin so hard to admit? What lie am I believing? Do I truly believe that God’s grace covers every sin—including this one? As you spend some time processing, you can talk with Jesus about it, telling Him about whatever comes to mind—confessing sin, and also naming confusion, lies, hurts, and anything else that’s stirred up in your heart—then thanking Him for His grace, love, and forgiveness.

But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. 1 John 1:9 (NLT)