Confession Is Good for the Soul
April 3, 2008
by Sharon Boling
When my daughter was about 2, my husband was telling her it was time for bed. She didn’t want to go of course, and she looked at him and said, “Daddy, me want to do what me want to do.” That, in a nutshell, describes most of the human race. We are very selfish creatures, and rebellious at times when we are forced to do things we don’t want to do. You can see that it doesn’t need to be taught it comes very naturally at an early age. Sometimes though, one of the hardest things to do is admit that we are having a problem.
What does the Bible say about our human nature? In the book of Romans Paul talks about how we war with ourselves over sin. Paul says that we sin even though we know it’s wrong and we don’t want to. He also says that Jesus can help us win the war over sin and over our human nature. David says in Psalms 32:5 that, “Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, ‘I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.’ And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.” (NLT)
Confession isn’t necessarily all about some big sin or rebellion though. What about thoughts or feelings? I have to admit, that is a big one for me. I get frustrated or upset with my circumstances or maybe with the way I feel like God hasn’t answered my prayers in a timely manner or in the way I would have wanted him to. I am angry with God. I feel like he has let me down. Is this wrong? Well, it isn’t good, that’s for sure. But this is the thing. God created us, he knows us like no other. It says in Psalms 139:1-2 “Oh Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.” (NIV)
God already knows how we feel. Even though in our hearts we rebel and we want to do what we want to do, He wants us to tell him about it. Sometimes our first instinct is to try to avoid admitting we have wrong feelings or attitudes, but when we finally open up and share our inner feelings with God, He is able to reach in and cleanse us in a way that we have never experienced before. Our relationship with our heavenly Father will be that much closer and sweeter because we have shared our deepest emotions and let Him heal our hearts.
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