I think for most people the word confession does not bring up warm fuzzy feelings. For me one of the first things that comes to mind is a crime show where someone is in an interrogation room being questioned and ends up spilling their guts about the crime they committed. Another thing I think of is that I remember as a child having to go in and confess to a priest things I had done and I was grateful I could hide behind the screen. When I was confirmed in eighth grade, I dared to do a face to face confession. I told the priest I had stolen three small little trinkets from a store in the mall and then felt so bad about it that I threw them in the trash an hour or so later. His response was not the love of Jesus I had hoped for and I left feeling embarrassed and ashamed, not free. While I now know that I do not need to go to confession to confess my sins to God, I think perhaps there is something lost in the modern church about regularly admitting my failures and confessing them to God, the one who can always be trusted to respond in love. 

At the last supper Jesus tells his disciples that His blood is a new covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins (Mark 14:24) and 1 John 2:2 says that Jesus died for the sins of the whole world. Under this new covenant I was already forgiven and I was able to receive that gift once I accepted the forgiveness freely offered to me through Jesus’ sacrifice. My slate was wiped clean, so to speak. I think there have been times in my life I have walked under that umbrella of forgiveness and take it for granted in my daily living. I get busy with life and don’t stop regularly to look at the things I do to bring them to the foot of the cross and confess them to God. When Jesus gave The Lord’s Prayer as a way to pray in Matthew 6:9-13, after acknowledging who God is and asking for His will to be done on earth, we ask for Him to give us our daily bread and forgive us as we have forgiven others. I think this is a reminder that I need to look at my actions every day, confessing to God, asking for forgiveness and offering forgiveness. When I fail to take this inventory of my behavior daily, I end up building walls between God, myself and others.

I can remember at one point being confused by the fact that as a believer, Colossians 2:14 tells me that all my sins were nailed to the cross, so why would I need to confess and ask for forgiveness for things I do now. I learned that what I do has an effect on my relationship with God and others. Sin is not simply ‘breaking the rules’ but rather a breach in my love relationship with God. The light of God shines in my life through the windows of my soul and every wrong is like dirt clouding the view. Every day I do not clean the filth, the dirtier the windows get, blocking both the light and the life of the Holy Spirit from my life. It is not asking for forgiveness because I haven’t already been forgiven, it is the admission of guilt by one who knows they have been forgiven much. I confess and ask God for forgiveness, acknowledging the things I have done that go against Him and His will, a violation of His love. It is humbly coming before the Lord, not in a self-depricating kind of way, but rather an honest admission to Him that I know I have chosen my own way. I am asking for forgiveness to restore my relationship with God and to clean the windows of my soul which will allow His light to shine brightly within and through me again. 

Admitting my sins and telling them to God is the act of confession. While I do not need an intermediary to do so because as followers of Christ we were given direct access to God in Jesus’ death, sometimes it can be beneficial to confess my sins to another person whom I can trust to respond in love. There is something to be said for letting in the light by pulling back the curtain of the darkest parts of ourselves with another person. We grow in humility as we fess up to God, to ourselves and to another human being our imperfections. It is interesting how often I’ve found that when I dare to pull down my mask and risk being a fallible human, how often other people will say ‘me too.’ It is a way for me to come down off the ladder of judgement and ranking, the he is better than me and I am better than she, and hold hands in the circle of humanity. Romans 8:28 tells us that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. I am grateful that although I am guilty, I am not condemned. He always responds to me with love and compassion, telling me I am forgiven and to ‘go and sin no more.’ Because of Jesus I am always more than what I’ve done and God doesn’t see me for what I have done but rather who He says I am, beloved.

Practice For Today

At the end of each day, I will prayerfully consider my words, thoughts and actions for that day. I will pray Psalm 139:23-24 asking God to search me for anything that was not of Him and be willing to hear and receive where I have gone astray without excuses or justification and then take whatever action I feel called to take. Whatever my sins were for that day, whether thoughts or actions, I confess them to God in repentance asking for His forgiveness to restore our love relationship. The same is true for my relationships with other people. If I have acted in a way that was not right towards another person, I will go to them and make amends for my behavior. If someone has wronged me, I will graciously offer forgiveness to them as Jesus has forgiven me. As I become more aware of my own actions and have to own up to the things I have done, I am afforded the opportunity to grow and am reminded of my desperate need for Jesus. In this daily reflection process I gain peace and freedom by not carrying my burdens and allowing God to clean my heart, mind and soul every day.

1 John 1:9 NIV     If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

James 5:16 NIV     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.