Week 6 | day forty
Confess Your Sins
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. James 5:16
One of the biggest lies that we so easily embrace is that we are alone in our sin and addiction. Because of the guilt and shame that comes with sin issues and unhealthy habits, isolation is a natural byproduct. In that place of loneliness and separation, hopelessness and despair move in and make themselves at home. We end up in a perpetual cycle of sin and shame, with ever-increasing measures of anguish deep within. It is a spiritual pit of darkness.
Thankfully, God gives us an incredibly powerful weapon against sin, isolation, shame, and despair: confession. When we confess our sins to each other and pray for one another, sin begins to lose its grip on us. Its strength and power over us and in us begin to fade. When we open up with intense honesty and transparency about our sin struggles to other mature followers of Jesus, it catapults into a process of healing and restoration. Confession becomes a place where we begin to receive hope, encouragement, support, and truth in love. Over time we journey with other believers to spiritual wholeness and freedom. The process is beautiful and transformative. It is what our Heavenly Father desires for each of us!
Some might say that they only need to confess and repent of their sins to God (and not to others), all in an effort to avoid the potential embarrassment of exposing their sin and addiction. And it is absolutely true that there is forgiveness and spiritual cleansing that our Heavenly Father offers us (1 John 1:9). But confession to God is only part of the equation; God designed us to live in relationship with Him and with other believers. And when we confess to Him and to others within our faith community, we tap into all the tools and resources available to us to live continually victorious over sin and addiction.
Today’s Prayer: Father, help me to have a greater willingness to be honest and open with others in my church family about the sin issues in my life, knowing that healing and freedom comes through confession. Thank You for the love, encouragement, support, and truth that comes through other followers of Jesus.
Today’s Challenge: Find time this week to connect with another mature believer in Jesus, to openly share about all that is happening in your relationship with Jesus and about the sin struggles He is highlighting in your life. With humility, ask for wisdom and prayer that leads to healing and freedom.
