Confession is one of the hardest tasks that we as Christians are asked to do. I believe that is because we must first admit that we were wrong. There are many times as parents that we ask our children to own up to their sin and say that they are sorry for what they did. Unfortunately, we do not always follow the same advice. Learning how to confess is profitable in growing as a Christian as we are continually shedding off our old natural way of doing things and being transformed to do them God’s way.
In Psalm 32:5, a man named David gave us a great example of how we should confess our sins. He says:
“I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,”
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.” (Psalm 32:5 ESV)
David first teaches us that we are to acknowledge the sin. Take ownership of the sin that has been committed. Do not pass the blame on someone or something else. Admit that it was you who made God unhappy or disrespected God.
Secondly, name the sins that you have committed in prayer. Come clean! This is the same as asking our children to tell us when they have done something. We should be ready to tell God when we do something wrong.
A finally, we should trust in God to forgive sin through his son, Jesus. God hears our prayers and will forgive us when we confess our sins to him. Trust in him that he does forgive the sin and release the guilt onto him.
The funny thing about confession is that God already knows about our sin. We aren’t surprising him in any way. However, we must confess our sin because it changes us and brings us closer to him as our heart is changed.
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