Confession

(NLT) James 5:16-18
Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. [17] Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! [18] Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops.

It doesn't tell us to confess our sins to a pastor or priest, but to each other. This act puts us in a state of accountability to each other. (NLT) Galatians 6:2
Share each other's burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.

I know very few believers who are honest about their own struggles and especially their failures with sin. We are quick to confess the faults of others but cover our own with a facade of self righteousness. Or we justify our sin by comparing it with the sin of someone we deem much worse than ourself.

(NLT) Luke 18:9-14
Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else: [10] "Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. [11] The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: 'I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else. For I don't cheat, I don't sin, and I don't commit adultery. I'm certainly not like that tax collector! [12] I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.' [13] "But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, 'O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.' [14] I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted."

The end of this passage goes right along with (NLT) 1 John 1:9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.

So in confessing the truth of our own sin we are forgiven. In covering it up we are all the more guilty.

Today, confess your sin to God and ask Him to give you an accountability partner who will lovingly hold you to a higher standard.

More about this tomorrow.

Love in Christ,
Steve Sherwood, Sr.