Confession is good for the soul, they say, and “they,” whoever “they” are, are right!
“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” Jas 5:16 NIV
Confess. God tells us over and over again to confess our sins. The purpose of confession is to unburden ourselves. When we confess to God, we are not telling Him something He did not already know. As a matter of fact, God already knew every sin, that’s every sinful thought as well as deed, that we would ever entertain and carry out before He said “Let there be light”! God is Omniscient…you and I, on the other hand, barely remember what happened 10 minutes ago, much less what will happen 10 minutes from now! When we confess to God, we are admitting that which we have thought or done, that does not align with His Holy Will for our lives, or Life in general. When we admit it is a sin, we are agreeing with God about what He says is acceptable and what is not. When we agree with God, we become more united with Him. Then we can actually sense His leading and receive the power to carry it out. Remember Php 2:13?
What we must never forget is that we were created for God’s pleasure, not our own. Now this doesn’t mean we cannot experience pleasure here, but it should remind us that life is not about MMI. We were created BY God, FOR God. And just in case you do not think God takes pleasure in His children, listen to Proverbs 11:20- “The LORD detests those whose hearts are perverse, but he delights in those whose ways are blameless.” Jesus declares us innocent the moment we receive His atoning sacrifice on the Cross. That’s our heart. Our mind and ways become, more and more, blameless, or pure, the more we surrender to His Will over our own. Jesus makes us blameless, then we remain blameless as we follow Him more and more. Confessing those times when we don’t follow Him, is one of the ways we remain blameless. But my Friends, we are not only to confess our sins to God.
Join me in memorizing 52 verses this year:
January: 1- Jn 3:16; 2- 2Co 5:17; 3- Jas 2:26; 4- Eph 2:10
February: 5- Jn 10:10; 6- Ro 6:23; 7- Rev 21:4; 8- Php 4:13
March: 9- 1Pe 5:7; 10- Jn 8:32; 11- Dt 30:19; 12- Jn 3:30; 13- 2Chron 20:3
April: 14- 2Chron 20:12; 15- 2Chron 20:15b; 16- 2Chron 20:17
May: 17- Ro 8:28; 18- 1Co 13:13; 19- Php 2:12; 20- Mt 5:4
June: 21- Lk 23:42; 22- Jas 4:7; 23- Pr 22:6; 24- Mt 5:3; 25- Jn 14:6
July: 26- Jas 2:19; 27- Dt 31:8; 28- Jn 14:15; 29- Jn 8:11
August: 30- Ro 8:1; 31- Pr 4:23; 32- Pr 18:21; 33- Ps 118:24; 34- 1Jn 4:4
September: 35- Mt 16:24; 36- Isa 53:6; 37- Ps 23:1-6
October: 38- Heb 4:12; 39- Jn 15:5
40- Jas 5:16
<>< Peace, Diane
