We are only as healthy as our secrets

It is not one of the measurements of health that we often consider: We are only as healthy as the secrets we have. In determining our own health we often consider the many good things that we do or the spiritual disciplines that we enter into. But the truth is that our secrets are the very thing that have the potential to do us the greatest harm – and potentially to take us out of the game entirely. Secrets matter and they are the very things that secretly diminish our personal health.

We don’t like to dwell on our secrets but the healthiest thing we can do is to face and acknowledge them. Jeremiah 17 reminds us that our hearts are deceitful and it is that deceit that keeps us from naming and identifying to ourselves those secret places in our lives that are dangerous to us and perhaps the source of our greatest dishealth. The most dangerous thing is to ignore and not acknowledge to ourselves the secret places in our lives that we know to be unhealthy. That is denial of our own realities. Ironically, because our secrets are hidden to others we often try to live with them hidden from ourselves by simply ignoring them.

Having identifying those secrets, it is time to push into them in order to resolve them. Sometimes that means getting the counsel and accountability of others. It may mean changes in our lives that minimize the temptation to go where we know we shouldn't go. It is a deliberate strategy to resolve our secrets in order to develop greater health. Those who do so avoid the pain and dishealth that inevitably comes with secrets.

This is not so much about avoiding pain (although relevant). It is in the final analysis it is our own commitment to emotional, relational and spiritual health. Health is life giving in every way while secrets are life robbing in every way. Jesus came to bring us health and our cooperation with him is essential to getting there. We are only as healthy as our secrets.

Posted from Havana, Cuba


All of T.J. Addington's books including his latest, Deep Influence,  are available from the author for the lowest prices and a $2.00 per book discount on orders of ten or more.