Proverbs 31 as a professional woman - Part 35

Dear loyal readers, I trust that you’re blessed and highly favoured.In part 34 I continued to share the good news of the gospel, which is about salvation through Jesus Christ offering forgiveness of our sins and restoring a right relationship with God. This salvation through Christ is a free gift based on grace and not earned through good works (Ephesians 2).What I’ve written in parts 29-34 on sin, confession, repentance and the good news of the gospel is merely a condensed version of it all and I encourage you to study the Holy Bible for further understanding as well as to share the good news with others as well.Talking about the importance of sin confession and repentance in the public discourse might seem embarrassing to some, but let me draw your attention to someone who was keenly aware of his sinful nature, and though he struggled with sin, he didn’t hide it from God.His name is David, considered to be a man after God’s heart (1 Sam 13:14; Acts 13:22). What made him unique is that he humbled himself and committed himself to love, obey, pray to, praise, worship and to be led by God – despite his many flaws, sins, transgressions and iniquities.Today’s article is about inspiring you with King David’s approach to his flaws.In Psalm 32 King David reveals the importance of confessing your sins, iniquities and transgressions to the Lord. In verse 5 he says:“I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.”He knew that any sins that we hide from the Lord create a stronghold of shame, condemnation, guilt, unworthiness, regret and spiritual death and opens the door for the enemy’s attacks. The very things that forgiveness of sins through Christ seeks to take away and give you freedom and victory over (Romans 8:37, Revelations 12:11, John 8:36, Galatians 5:1).Because of His holiness, God has to punish sin, but through Christ and out of His love, grace and mercy for us, He seeks to take away His own wrath, judgement and punishment against us and restores us to a right relationship with Him so we can receive eternal life (Romans chapters 1 to 12, John 3, Ephesians chapters 1 to 3). Meaning that as a believer in Jesus Christ, when your body dies on Earth, you will continue to live on in Heaven. But if you refuse the free gift of salvation, then eternal damnation will be your portion.Some of you have been hiding sins that you consider a ‘secret’ from the Lord – the One who sees everything. That’s pride – repent.Some of you are secretly angry with God because you feel like He doesn’t hear or answer your prayers. Repent, for “your anger does not produce God’s righteousness.” (James 1:20)Others think that God has forgotten about them, but they refuse to acknowledge that they only pursue God transactionally – wanting His hand but rejecting His heart. Forgetting Him when they get what they want and only returning to Him when another need arises – repent for trying to manipulate the Lord.Some of you feel ashamed of your past sins or where you come from and you think you cannot be made right with God – I encourage you that nothing can separate you from the love of God (read the whole of Romans 8). In part 33 I listed all the people who, by human standards, didn’t deserve God’s forgiveness or to be used by God – yet He used them – thereby revealing more of His character. After reading part 33, you might realise that the promise of salvation in John 3:16 has no conditions of who qualifies and who doesn’t.In sum, I encourage you to confess all your sins to the Lord because He sees it all, and you coming to Him with it all shows that you are choosing to trust in His love for you – despite your shortcomings.Sometimes you might not know what hidden sins are counted against you. Allow me to direct you to Psalm 19:12, Psalm 51 and Psalm 139:23-24 where King David asks God to show him his hidden faults and to examine his life to reveal his offensive ways as well as to take away all his sins and not to count them against him anymore. Sometimes we don’t realise that certain words, thoughts or actions are sins against God – it takes a revelation from Him to create awareness of a particular sin.And some sins are so hidden that it takes a revelation from God to help you realise it also. In it’s hidden form, the enemy would use that sin to condemn you, but God, through His Holy Spirit, would rather convict you of the sin, thus making you aware of it so that after sin confession and repentance all condemnation is taken away.The Psalm 51:10-13 prayer by King David shows that King David trusted God’s love for him – despite his flaws. His sinful nature didn’t have the power to create a clean heart and the right spirit within him. So, he asked God to do that within him because he knew his human limitations and trusted God above his own human strength. He wanted his heart to be aligned with God’s heart.May you be encouraged by King David’s love, humility, obedience and posture of submission in front of the Lord.I invite you to study the Holy Bible to learn more about the character, ability, integrity and the love of the triune God – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. May it inspire you to pursue Him for yourself because ultimately, salvation is personal.Shalom.

Proverbs 31 as a professional woman - Part 35

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Namibian Sun 2025-03-31

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Proverbs 31 as a professional woman - Part 35

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Namibian Sun 2025-03-31

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