Why Should I Confess?
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Confession does two very important things. First, it restores our relationship with God. Second, it brings us to a place of honesty about ourselves.
In any relationship, when one person hurts the other person, confession is important to heal the brokenness. When I say to my wife, “I’m sorry. My words were insensitive,” I am confessing that I am the one that has hurt her. I’m seeking her forgiveness and telling her that our relationship is important.
When we confess to God, we’re doing the same thing–seeking re-unification. God is pleased with our confession because it is a way for us to say “You are important to me, and this relationship is important to me.”
Personally, however, telling God about my sin is not nearly as difficult for me as telling myself about my sin. I know God is a loving, caring God. I know that God promises to forgive me and put my sins aside. I know that nothing can separate me from God’s love toward me. I confess my sins, and my relationship is restored. This is a Christian privilege I too often take for granted. It is an act of grace I do not deserve.
The second value of confession–coming to terms with myself–is more difficult to me than actually telling God what God already knows. Before we can verbalize our sins to God, we have to confess to ourselves that we have failed. How can I tell God I’ve done something wrong if I have yet to admit it to myself? Confession, in essence, is an honest statement about our character. It is a reality check about who we are.
Instead of admitting my sin to myself, I am more inclined to rationalize it away or ignore it altogether. All of us want to hide who we are and what we’re capable of from others. We want others to think we are “good” people. Unfortunately, this tendency to cover-up ourselves carries over into our relationship with ourselves. I don’t want to admit that I have done wrong. I don’t want to admit my weaknesses and my mistakes. I would rather live with the fantasy of my righteousness than with the reality of my sinfulness.
If I am truly honest about my faults then I have to call into question my self-perception of being a “good” person. If I admit my sins, I am forced to deal with the difficult decision to forgive myself or punish myself. Unlike God, I am not so quick to forgive me. I would rather get angry at myself. Therefore, confession causes me to have bad feelings about myself. As a result, I avoid honesty about myself. I avoid true confession, not because I’m afraid of what God might do, but because of how it makes me feel about myself.
Confession to God is a demonstration of our desire to restore our relationship with the Divine. It’s a way of saying, this relationship is important enough for me to face up to what I’ve done. God is pleased with that.
In addition to that, however, I think God also uses confession to help us take an honest look at who we are, to admit our imperfections and to see our character for what it is. If we cannot be honest with ourselves, we can never be honest with God. Confession makes a real, intimate relationship possible.
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