It seems like today everyone wants to know our secrets. The NSA listens to everything, Google watches everything we search online, Facebook knows everything that goes on with our social life, and hackers try and steal our personal information. At every turn, our privacy is being invaded. I was reminded of this fact when I took my mom out to the dollar theater to see the movie The Circle.
The basic concept of the movie is that lies are a crime and that total transparency leads to us being our best self. For example, if everyone knows everything we are doing all of the time and we cannot hide the bad things we do when nobody is looking, then we will become our best selves.
Now, I love my privacy as much as anyone. I love to keep my personal live personal and not a big social media sharer. The interesting question that came to mind when thinking about privacy is that our Heavenly Father knows all of our secrets.
Our Heavenly Father knows everything. He knows all of our good deeds and all of our sins. He knows all of our secrets. So why do we want to keep secrets from the government, strangers, and sometimes friends and loved ones and yet we are okay with our Heavenly Father knowing everything about us. The difference comes in the way that each entity uses our secrets. The government uses our secrets to punish us. Strangers use our secrets to intrude into our lives. Friends and loved ones may be hurt if they knew all of our secrets. Yet, with our Heavenly Father, our secrets are safe. Our Heavenly Father only wants what is best for us. As all that our Heavenly Father does is for our benefit, we do not have to worry that our Heavenly Father will never use our secrets to blackmail use, to hurt us, to tell everyone that we are imperfect.
Typically, the definition of a secret is “something you tell one person at a time.” It is comforting to know that Our Heavenly Father is the perfect secret keeper. We can discuss anything with our Heavenly Father. Our deepest fears, our darkest secrets, our greatest sins, and our ultimate questions. Our Heavenly Father will listen. He will not interrupt. He will not tell others. He will not get offended. He will simply listen. When the time is right, He will provide us guidance. Our Heavenly Father will direct us on how to improve, how to become better, how to overcome our trials, how to attain forgiveness.
The ultimate comfort is that once we repent, once we use the atoning power in our lives, our Heavenly Father will remember our sins no more.
What a perfect plan. We can trust our Heavenly Father with all of our secrets. We can talk to him about anything and as long as we repent he will not remember our sins. While I continue to cherish my privacy and still do not want the NSA to listen in on my phone calls or Google knowing everything I search online. I am grateful that there is someone who I can share everything in my life with and he will continue to love me and help me to become as He is, perfect.
