When you are confronted, what is your reaction?!
Indeed pride, a false perception of the reality and stubborn, are things that cover the denial.
In Matthew 26 Jesus see a hard situation coming and to prepare the disciples’ hearts to bear it.
Peter says not, I will not do that!
In the confront: 1 - Deny
2 - Don’t accept
3 – Do not take any responsibility
4 - Put himself in a position of evidence and call himself innocent
Denial is a common thing in the people's lives. No one wanna to take weakness, fear, limitation, lost and sins in front of nobody.
An ask is: Do Deny do something different?
Do deny changes the inevitable?
Do deny give us spiritual growing or spiritual maturity?
We have spent long time denying. We have spent time denying weakness, sins and laziness when we are confronted about some bad acts that we do. We deny to try protect us BUT, the end is…. Fall.
We deny laziness with the justification of ‘ I have no time’
We deny some carnal acts with the justification of ' everybody sins, who never do that?'
We deny our negligence in the bible's read, time of prayer and evangelism saying: time is short, I can't stay concentrated!
We talk bad about peoples whom shows us our sins, so,
We deny and stop
We deny and fall
We say: No I'm not like that, when indeed we are.
AS Peter we deny, but, you and I know what happened in the end. Peter, as Jesus warned , denied Him. Even Peter said in loud voice: NO MASTER, I WILL NEVER DO THAT.
There are some areas in your life that you are denying?
Be closed to changes is the reason to don't be blessed (but be changed and made new in mind, so that by experience you may have knowledge of the good and pleasing and complete purpose of God. Rm 12:2) we don't open our minds to changes and stay stopped! We have to understand that conversion means change don't justification. Conversion means ACTION, because deny produces death!
Deny in a confront killed Peter. When he denied that Jesus was right, it gave him a bad fruit. Just when Peter recognized what had happened and to taken what Jesus said as right, the Holy Spirit could brings to him the real repentance and the real healing, doing him one of most preachers of the history. His first sermon more than 3 thousand people gave their lives to Jesus.
To confess and accept a correction is the right way.
Jesus bless you