Jesus said ...
Matthew 10:27 What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. 28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. 30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.
32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
confess: acknowledge, make known, be evidence of, reveal
While reading this passage, I thought of how when we are given a word from God by the Holy Spirit, and we speak and do according to that word, we confess Jesus, the Word of God, to those around us. Whatever word we hear from God, when we speak and act according to that word, our lives acknowledge, make known, and are evidence of the word of God.
But if we fail to obey what God has said, wanting to win and maintain relationships with other people instead, we deny Jesus before men for we have denied the His word.
Matthew 10:34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. 36 And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. 37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
I was also reminded of what Jesus said in the following …
John 12:49 For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.
As we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in obeying what God has told us to speak and do without holding back, we confess the word of God and the power of God to those around us.