We Christians don’t make confessions as much as a big deal as it should be. We might think “God already knows all my sins so why do I need to say it all?”. So when we actually confess, we still don’t do it the way as God calls us to do. We don’t do it in great detail. What we don’t try to understand is that Confession is not for God’s benefit rather its for ours. We don’t need to confess our sins to make God feel better. Instead, this is for our own good.
View your heart as a dirty house filled with dirt and grime. Now when your house is dirty what do you do? You clean it. Then what about your heart? You clean your heart by confessing your sins.
When we sin, a barrier is built between the Lord and us, which surely will break the continuity of fellowship with Him. In order to see how perfect God is, we must see how much of a sinner we really are. We’ll be set free from our sins once we confess them. When we confess our sins, we are forgiven. When we put them at the feet of Jesus, he’ll then throw them out, forgive us and will make us a new one again. Our offences will be washed away and most importantly the fellowship with the Lord will be restored. We now know that sin brings nothing except separation from God.
In Psalm 32:3-4 we can see the burden of unconfessed sin. David says that his bones grew old, God’s hand was heavy upon him, and his vitality was turned into the drought of summer. But David acknowledged his sin and made a confession before God. What we have to see here is David’s confession was not a one-sided process but in return, God forgave his iniquity.
The more specific we are about the sin, the more we show to God that we are truly sorry about it.
In Luke 15, the prodigal son confessed, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.” The prodigal son was right that he had sinned and his confession revealed he understood what he had become. He knew his offence towards God and his father. The Father forgave him and thus made him worthy. The Father forgives. The Bible says that God is a God ready to forgive, he is gracious and merciful (Nehemiah 9: 7).
Confession indeed is an integral part of the Christian walk. It is a necessary aspect of spiritual growth as it allows to put things right with God. So how about going briefly on confessions with Heavenly Father?