Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
-Matthew 16:20, NIV
This verse follows Peter’s confession of Jesus’ true identity. And much wisdom resides in this charge from Jesus.
Sometimes keeping an important truth about our identity secret is wise.
To use Clinical Pastoral Education language, one of my “growing edges” (aka weaknesses) is oversharing. I tend to err on the side of over-disclosure.
A chaplain mentor of mine warned me about this.
Unfortunately, we live in a world where people will use information as weapons against you. Not everyone is safe.
Jesus was no dummy.
He knew that not everyone could handle the truth of His identity as Messiah. In fact, I suspect he knew some would use it to fashion him into the Messiah they wanted him to be.
He was not going to let that happen.
So, he instructed his disciples to keep it quiet. His Father in Heaven would reveal the truth to those who needed to know. The others did not need to know.
Not everyone is going to be worthy of hearing your story, faithful spouse.
Some will behave like worldly people and weaponize that information to hurt you or otherwise serve their agendas–whatever that might be.
It is wise to only reveal the most important truths about ourselves to those who have proved themselves trustworthy over time. That is what I take from this verse and passage in Matthew.
Slowly but surely, I am confident God will help me with this particular “growing edge” of mine. May He do the same for you!
