Years ago, I was a sometimes anorexic, but mostly bulimic, church secretary/Bible-college student/pastor’s wife. Wow, that reads pretty rough, even now. Then, on September 10, 2008, I called my pastor-husband from a Starbucks parking lot and told him I was going to die. Exhausted, I’d just ordered a double espresso so I could sit up straight, but then my heart began beating too fast. I kept looking at my eyes in the rearview mirror, wondering why the whites of them looked so gray. Actually, they’d been looking gray for a while.
Up until that point, being dysfunctional with food was my secret life. I’d always thought of myself as an honest person, but I was desperate to hide my secret—so I became deceitful. Nearly every waking moment was spent lying and then trying to cover up the lies. Even at that time, I was familiar with every passage listed in today’s reading. I knew James 5:16 by heart: “Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed.”
But I couldn’t confess. I wouldn’t confess. I just wanted to be healed. I wanted the healing part without the confession part. Hiding seemed safer than sharing because I was convinced confession would bring the opposite of healing: humiliation, destruction, and ruin.
Still, God’s Word kept telling me that His kingdom was different. That keeping silent would brittle my bones (Psalm 32:3), but sharing would bring life, not death. God repeatedly led me to one verse in the Bible that I could find right now, blindfolded and upside down. It was like a weight hanging around my neck for all those miserable years when I was caught in this sin.
The one who conceals his sins will not prosper,
but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy (Proverbs 28:13).
I can’t really think about it without crying. Mercy. I’d never wanted anything so much, yet nothing felt further away. But on that September day, with the espresso and heart palpitations and gray eyes, I just knew something had to change. My sin and disobedience and hiding were going to kill me. With a sliver of surrender and a mountain of God’s grace, after three-and-a-half years proving I just wasn’t strong enough to stop on my own—I obeyed. I made a phone call to confess my sin and my struggle. First, to my husband, and then, to a counselor.
And I felt a release. I’m not sure of the exact moment, of where or when. Maybe it was there in my car, sitting in the Starbucks parking lot, my heart racing. Or in the lobby of the counselor’s office. Maybe I felt the release in my confession. The exact moment doesn’t matter so much. What matters is that God heard my cry and confession. He met me in my brokenness. His healing, however He chooses to give it, is always miraculous. It’s always a kindness and mercy.
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117 thoughts on "Confession"
I definitely need to spend time thinking about where I sin and time confessing more. Not in a strict way but to be more aware
Confession and repentance have been coming up in different sermons and studies I’m doing. God show me where I am sinning and need confession and to repent.
I agree! I suffered with an eating disorder while I was a missionary overseas. My silence was rooted in fear of being judged *because* I was afraid others would consider it a sin. Healing came when I finally sought therapy and was able to identify what was at the root of my disorder.
Personally, the only one you need to reconcile with is God. If you have done that, I believe the rest is more about forgiving yourself and letting go. I’m no expert, but it sounds like guilt and you need to let that guilt go, talk positively to yourself and read scriptures about how God loves you and values you.
A good reminder that He always meets us with tenderness, mercy and grace.
I agree so much with today’s devotional. Confession is something I think we forget to do & yet it’s so needed.
While I appreciate your heart to encourage followers of Jesus to repent – this platform may not be the appropriate place for you to promote your resources
Loved this blog Scarlet, very well-written and informative.
I hope you can take the time to read my post as well.
Five Steps For a Good Confession
1. Examine your conscience.
2. Be sincerely sorry for your sins.
3. Confess your sins.
4. Resolve to amend your life.
5. After your confession, do the penance the priest assigns.
Been away from the confessional for a while? This handy guide, tailored to adults, will help you make a good confession. By the way, it can be printed out and shared with your friends! Check my resources A Guide to Confession Hope this will help. Thank you.
Cheers,
Reverend Francis
Confession leads me to freedom from fear. I’m so grateful for the mercy of our loving God through Christ Jesus. Amen!
How profoundly beautiful
Such a good and needed reminder
Today I realized how important confession is in our healing.
Amen, Tara.
This hit me in a different way today as I’m not struggling with confession but with making a decision so “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” was just what I needed, I’m trusting in His leading me so that any decisions today or any day are made under His Holy name!
Scarlet, thank you so much for your vulnerability in sharing your story. I too have walked a road of struggling with an eating disorder, and the beauty and freedom found after letting the light in on the dark places in our lives and in our hearts is such a powerful thing.
Hopefully no one sees your eating disorder as the sin in question but the hiding and lying. I understood where the devotional author was coming from but as someone who suffers from an anxiety disorder, I was a little concerned with this particular one.
I thought the same thing. She could have been more clear on what the sin actually was! I would hate for others struggling with eating disorders or mental health issues (which can go hand in hand) to think that those are the sins she was talking about. This would just bring shame.
After confessing to the lie you believed did you ask him to truth? He will tell you! Trust his voice, scripture and your community. After confession comes seeking his truth and healing! Hoping you can find that.
I have a question, I feel the weight of my sin. I have asked for forgiveness and turned away from my sin for 16 years yet I still feel it heavy on me. A secret that I keep from 90% of people. When do you stop confessing? And who do you confess to. My husband , my parents and my best friends all know and urge me to forgive myself. However this secret holds me back from feeling I have the right to be baptized until I confess to the elders of my church I feel I can’t become a member either…. ok that was long sorry ladies I’m just looking for direction…
My thoughts exactly! I felt very uncomfortable with the way that was worded, I thought I was the only one!
This has been said, but I want to agree and stand in solidarity with women coming forward as survivors. Eating disorders are not sinful and it is so troubling that it was put this way.
I am praying that we are able to find freedom away from food pressures and diet culture. God has put some wonderful people here on this earth that have really opened up my eyes on the pressures put on women to be as small and thin as possible. Body confidence and intuitive eating is a great place to start :) Mary’s cup of tea (Instagram and podcast) & Jessi Jean (Instagram and dear body podcast) are my favorite!
Bethany Elza, I agree with you. The church tends to do this, confuse mental illness with sin and it is hurtful to so many. I agree that this person needed to confess to get help but this was mental illness she was dealing with, not sin. Either way, God healed. Praise his name.
These verses really spoke to me in a way I wasn’t expecting by the title. The loving and forgiving of others really stuck out. What do you do when you cannot get closer from a past hurt or friendship failing? Forgive. Love. I’m glad I’m on that road now and I’m happy to find myself actually wanting good things for the person. It took a long time to get here. There is such freedom in forgiveness and confession. The moments I feel most loved by husband or God or a friend is when I finally share something I thought they’d hate me for, and they so graciously forgive me. Not holding back but immediately giving me grace. And I love returning the favor when I get a chance.
Amen! I was so encouraged by this devotional. The sin is in the hiding not what is being hidden in this case. I pray that we would all trust the Holy Spirit to do what He does best and that is to allow those who have ears to hear this word correctly. And if we feel that the message could be taken the wrong way, that we would be quick to pray that this would not be so. Thankful for this forum of refreshment and encouragement that is cultivated by you all ♥️
So sorry you went through that but look where it brought you and how many lives you have touched with your testimony. So proud of you for listening to the Holy Spirit and confessing your secrets. Thank you abs God bless.
We all have our secrets but I know from experience that it only hurts is and those around us to hide them away in our heart and not confess them and let them go.
wow, this was powerful. confession is something that we tend to skim over or I find foreign to do but definitely getting out of my pride and going to enter Christ’s throne of grace.
Lord help me
Sometimes I have thoughts so contrary to the thoughts a believer should have that the only person I can confess to is Jesus. Thankful for His mercy and grace❤️
Thank you for sharing your sin and process to confession! Your story really opened my eyes to how harboring sin can definitely withhold God’s promises for our lives.
Heather, I could have written this myself. “I need a new workout program, I need a new diet regimen” but in all honesty, they aren’t working because I’m not working. And same as you, I eat when no one else can see and then say I can’t lose weight. While that’s an issue, hiding it is also an issue.
If you haven’t ever heard of it, Made to Crave by Lysa Turkerst. So good & im going to start it today.
After reading all 85 comments, I have to speak up. Scarlet Hiltibidal thank you for your honesty and bravery. Too often Christians put pastor’s wives on a pedestal and expect them to be perfect. I felt your pain as you confessed to the hiding and lying and understood that those were your guilt laden sins. Thank you again for sharing your life altering testimony.
@Bethany. I read it as the fact that she was hiding it was the sin. The eating disorder wasn’t the sin, but hiding it and being dishonest with her husband was.
@Harper — I agree with you that eating disorders are diseases of the body. From the reading and the comments, what I took saw was confession of the sins we commit to hide our illness. The eating disorder isn’t the illness it’s our actions because of the shame, guilt that we’ve tied to it.
It can’t be healed if it stays hidden!
As a healthcare professional and someone who has personally struggled with disordered eating and body dysmorphia I want to emphasize that eating disorders are a mental illness, not a sin. I agree that it is important to be vulnerable and transparent in order to get help and healing, and I believe God can heal this like anything else, but it is not something that should be condemned by Christians. There is no biblical basis for this. I’ve never disagreed with a devotional in 5 years of reading SRT, but I have to say that I think this one is a little dangerous, because it may make the shame and fear of confronting this even worse. We need to encourage vulnerability and hope, not point fingers.
Anorexia and bulimia are an illness often secret in nature and I just want to encourage anyone who is suffering from this, not to blame yourself or get wrapped up in any kind of guilt trips or self condemnation but to seek help from trusted advisors. Too many believers have been given very faulty theology in regard to seeking medical intervention because we have the ultimate healer Jesus, forgetting that Jesus has raised up healers among us. As sisters in Christ we need to bond and stick together united by faith, accepting our own weaknesses and failures knowing that God knows, we are fully known, cherished and loved by him. And only through him he will bring us through our bitterest nights to a brand new day. It’s ok to be you, by our very nature we can’t get it right, we just can’t be perfect, but I think we need to be kind to ourselves confessing first to ourselves that things might not be how we want and then let God be the loving and caring father that he is.
I see myself in your words Monique. Thank you for your honesty and for challenging me to seek god first too.
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Thank you so much for sharing!
Thank you for sharing that. Your testimony is powerful. “With a sliver of surrender and a mountain of God’s grace…” Your raw, honest account… Throws me into a thoughtful pause this morning. ❤️
Praise God that you can share your private struggle and bless us with it. Amen!!
Praise God that he hears me and meets me in my brokenness and heals me.
Amen!
A few years ago I experienced a back injury that developed into something more serious and very painful. As I’ve reflected on this past season, I see now that it was a time God used to expose my idol of my own physical strength and how deep this idol truly existed in my mind. I resonated with what the author said about how she wanted the healing without the confession of the sin that surrounded her illness, because I’m pretty sure that’s all I prayed for during the first few months of my back injury. God was very patient with me and allowed me to see my idol through many months of tears and questions of “why”, and lead me to lean on him for strength instead of on my own. God also allowed me to heal from that injury, and it is through this that I also experienced the depth of his kindness and mercy. How great is our God who sees the sins that are poisoning our hearts and leads us to repentance and spiritual healing, as well as physical and mental!
I too find it hard to confess things, but freeing once I do. It’s hard to get past shame and guilt to the point if freedom and mercy.
As another woman who struggled with an eating disorder as a teen (and will probably always have some struggles with body image and eating well), there needs to be a clear distinction here between mental illness and sin. Anorexia, bulimia, anxiety disorders—these are illnesses. They are serious and require professional help. If the church labels them as sin, it shoves these issues into the dark world of shame where they can fester. I believe the author was referring to lying as the sin, but clarity is imperative.
Sarah D. – I remember when you first started posting on SRT as a high school student struggling with pornography. I have followed your posts through college (I live in Lynchburg VA) and have kept you in prayer through your journey.
You have grown so much in your faith and in your finding who you are in Christ as a daughter.
So glad to hear that you are in a group who hold accountability and you have reached your one year mark of being free of pornography! God answers prayer !
May He continue to bless you and guide you as you continue to enter adulthood with your eyes on Him.
MEWIRES – I find that my laptop works best for my daily SRT devotion. Never any glitches and the verses pop right up.
Hope this helps.
❤️
I needed this reading tonight! Helps me stay honest with myself and everyone I know. Be true to you and the rest follows!
I am beyond grateful for a way out of sin and the sickness that it causes. The most recent thing that I overcame that has been a life time struggle I was worried that confessing it would do no good. That I would be stuck. In a dream I had awhile back too I was told I would never overcome. That I would always struggle all my life. After a long time of being resilient, confessing and asking for forgiveness I finally over came. Sometimes the enemy try’s to tempt me with it but now I have a hold on it and tell him to shut his face. All to the glory of God and mercy that I am able to be a walking victor every day now.
I love this honesty. Gods gorgeous mercy is so much wider and deeper than our most dirty secrets. His eyes filled with love and fixated on his daughter doesnt change with our confession. He just draws us closer. Beautiful!
Last couple of days I can’t get the scripture to do “more”. I tried getting it from several search engines, did not make a difference. I am working on my kindke. I don’t know if that makes a difference.
Confessing our faults is liberating and will bring healing and closures. Truly the battle to overcome humiliation needs to take place first within our mind. The glorious result is that person will prosper! The thing is, do I trust that? Most times I am guilty of not trusting people enough to share, for fear of having my vulnerable secrets passing on (which happened before in our church circle). I pray that God will give us the courage to confess, to come to a place of trusting one another enough to feel safe to confess, and may He give us mercy, kindness, meekness and long-suffering through those who listen to us. May God protect us from guilt and condemnation. May we know that we can come to Him undone, naked, bearing our true conditions, for grace in times of need.
The hardest part of confessing is knowing that while you are confessing to God a part of you still wants to keep committing the sin and the fear of failing God once again. But we have to have faith and abide in Him and believe we have a new identity in Christ that his power makes up for what we lack. To God be the glory for he restores us and makes us whole.
I love that we serve a God who wants us to be honest about who we are with him and the people around us. There is so much freedom in confession and honesty, not just with God bu also with those around us.
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I’m weeping as I read this devotion. Yes, how important it is not to hide, first from our father, and then from the body of Christ. It’s incumbent upon each of us to have a listening heart to our Brothers and Sisters in Christ. And it’s incumbent upon us to share with our Father our deepest secrets, no matter how humiliating. Our God loves a humble and contrite spirit. It helps us heal and enjoy the true freedom we have in Christ.
I have felt a similar brokenness and felt God’s kindness and mercy and help. About six months after my older son died I thought about committing suicide. I’m thankful I was able to talk about it to a very caring doctor and she got me the help I needed. I am also thankful my family stood by me and prayed for me and helped me. My parents were by my side all the way. While I was in the hospital my father came and he and I would read from the Bible every couple of days. Then when I left I was living with my parents and they encourage me regularly. We would pray together.
God is good all the time and all the time God is good. Have a blessed day my sisters.
We all struggle with sins, some are public visible-some are private. The word sin has strong connotations but it is anything less than Gods best. We are all in a state of sin almost constantly so we all have things to confess before the Lord or others. We should be doing it so often it is easy and second nature. But we don’t. Pride keeps us from seeing our selfish desires as short of Gods best when we -I- want to pick what that is. Should be easy but is so very hard!!! Thankfully God knows and understands and freely forgives
What a powerful testimony! I’m so glad Scarlet found a way to healing. I just want to say that anorexia and bulemia are not sins. They are mental illness. You are not sinful for having a mental illness ❤️ no more than you are sinful for having a broken foot. Lying and deceiving others yes that is sinful but I just want other she’s to be comforted if you are struggling with mental illness there is no shame. Please seek help from someone you trust ❤️
This hits hard. Couldn’t confess vs wouldn’t confess. How often do we try to hide our shame away for fear of judgement from the only one who can grant us mercy? I needed this today.
Hi Harper, I just want to say I’m proud of you for the strides you’re making towards healing.
I do not struggle in this same area, but, I did not get that same feeling from the passage. I understood the author to say that the sin was lying- lying to her husband and everyone around her that she was okay and thy she was not struggling. That was the sin she confessed, not that eating disorders in themselves are sins.
Like others have said, I find this a bit troubling. As someone who is in recovery from an eating disorder, it is harmful to people to tell them that their mental health issue is a sin. It is an illness.
Praying for you all today, for all the struggles we are going through. As of December 2020, I have been free from pornography for a year! At the beginning of 2020, I joined a group of women who had the same struggle through an organization I heard about at my school, and we confessed to each other. I knew that the Lord wanted me to be in that group and it was definitely what I needed to be free… Accountability and women sharing their struggles and going through life together. So incredibly thankful for that, and praising God that he has healed me from this addiction. Praying I would stay vigilant and remember that God is better than anything else. Praying that others would be freed from their addictions, especially women addicted to pornography, since it can be such a shameful subject to talk about. Love you SRT fam!
Harper having an eating disorder isn’t sinful. The sin is the lying and deceit to cover it up.
When we confess we receive God’s kindness and mercy! Amen ❤️
I appreciate the overall topic of confession, but as someone who is in recovery for an eating disorder and compulsive exercise, I disagree with the notion that this is sinful. Eating disorders are mental illnesses. Certainly, we can lean on our faith to recover, but suggesting that having an eating disorder warrants confession places blame on someone for their illness.
Confessing to God seems easy-scary. I suppose it’s because I can see and feel only His consequences of every decision. Confessing to others including my husband is really scary. Scary because of either my imagined disappointment and judgement in his eyes (or others) or disgust and humiliation of myself. Maybe these are only the works of the enemy. Nevertheless, (love this word) God says to do this: confess sins for healing. Whatever He says I need to do and be, even when it’s scary or humiliating. Even when I don’t understand His ways, I will follow. “When I am afraid, I will trust in You.” Ps 56:3
@Terri, I think the power of corporal confession is similar to corporate worship and bible study. Yes, we worship and study CHRIST, but together we can get deeper, be held in love, supported, held accountable, introduced to new tools, and more. Also, far too often, our sin affects our relationships, whether directly or indirectly. My two cents! It is hard, though, to be vulnerable. Hard but then so good.
Today’s bible reading and devotion reminded me of Celebrate Recovery. Getting out of my denial and admitting I can’t do this alone and I needed help. I had become so codependent that I didn’t even know who I was anymore. I will never forget the very first celebrate recovery meeting that I went to. I went afraid. But I kept going. There is a saying (slogan). “Keep coming back, it works, if you work it, so work it cuz you’re worth it“.
I got out of my denial, admitted, and confessed my sin and I was set free. First to God, then a counselor, and my sponsor and a few trusted friends.
Praying for Heather, Taylor and Monique and Colleen. Appreciate your sharing. I have not always been very good at confessing to others, even my husband. Yet the Lord keeps working and there is progress! I have been more aware of the importance of being really honest in confession before the Lord. It sounds so obvious but I can roll along without taking that time to examine my heart before Him. In doing that I see more and more of His Grace.
Praying for peace and comfort over you Taylor as you have your procedure done tomorrow. You are faithful and brave for confessing your sin to God and others. I’m so glad we have a God who is forgiving, graceful, and helps us with our sins. I’m also praying that you are able to forgive and offer grace for yourself—I’m speaking from experience when I say that this can be the hardest of them all. Always thankful to have your comments and wisdom in SRT
I really needed to read this today – similar to Heather, an unhealthy relationship with food/exercise and body image where I then let that control/dictate my mood and probably how I treat others (because you can’t treat others well if you’re not treating yourself well). A wonderful reminder to seek God and confess our weaknesses and sins. “Many times we want the healing part without the confession.” God, thank you for being ever-present, ever-available to us and for calling us to confess so that we may then heal – because of You.
Taylor, lifting you up in prayer and love – you are so very brave to confess to us and I pray for your healing, both physically and spiritually, no matter your outcome.
I have been there, Heather— I used food to deal with anxiety for a long time during my younger years. And chose nutrition as a degree to try to get out of it! What personally helped me was reminding myself daily of who I was in Him, giving myself the grace He gave me, and studying Intuitive Eating (there’s a book and workbook by Evelyn Trimbole). Everyone has their own journey, so I’m not sure what may speak to you (other than resting in the Father), but I just say this so that you know you’re not alone on your journey.
Praying for all the struggles confessed here. I confess and pray for my struggles with mindless shopping. I too easily fall into the trap of an Instagram ad or adding to the Amazon cart everything I “need.” I pray I can be a better steward of what God has given me!
Loved this!
Praying for you, Monique. I struggle with this sin also and I’m asking Him to give us the strength to be open about our struggles and turn to Him for comfort and sustenance!
Thank-you, Heather, for sharing! I confess using food for comfort also and I’m praying for you to be strong in turning to the Lord for that comfort instead of food!
Tomorrow I have to get a test to see if I have an STI and/or cervical cancer. I’m anxious about the procedure but also carrying a lot of guilt and shame because I’d much rather it be the first instead of the latter – and it is a direct result of the secret sin in my life. Lord I confess this sin to you and ask for healing and freedom from the guilt and shame I carry on a daily basis. It’s always so hard for me confessing my sin to other Christians because “sex before marriage” seems like the worst possible sin. However, this devotion has been encouraging and from life experiences when I have confessed this sin to close friends I have been met with mercy and love instead of judgment.
Amen
“I wanted the healing part without the confession part.” Yep. I felt this within the last few months. There is freedom in confession. Thanks for Proverbs 28:13
Heather, I am thankful for your vulnerability and transparency here. I struggled with eating disorders for over 10 years, and even now must be vigilant to continue surrendering that area to God. I am praying with you, and if you ever need a sister to talk to, I am here! ❤️
Loved this post. I’ve gotten better at admitting when I’ve done something wrong in my personal life and relationships – but I don’t share as easily in my professional life. Please give me the courage to continue to behavior of humility when addressing flaws/my errors at work. Help me to see beyond the fear of retaliation and to do right by God. Thank you Father for this community of women and for this safe place to help align me every morning before I start my day. ❤️
Rarely does sin affect only us. The Matthew 5 scripture speaks to this. Confessing to the one whom we’ve hurt in the process of our sin leads to healed relationships. Another reason for confession to another is accountability. It’s easy to still hide behind our sins if we don’t have someone walking the path of repentance with us. God created us for relationship and community. We were never meant to walk out our faith alone. As humans it’s too easy for us to go wrong. With another believer walking with us, they can help speak into the healing process, and pick us up as we stumble along.
I am praying for you.
This has really spoken to me today too. I have an ugly relationship with food and I have never really named it. I turn to food instead of the one who can set me free. I eat in the darkness and hide it from my family. I workout so hard and they all think the weight just won’t fall off. I sabotage myself. If only I would turn to my Father for help. Lord I confess to you and these Ladies that I eat food to find my comfort instead of turning to you. Lord please forgive me and help me break these heavy chains. I am tired of the heaviness, physically and spiritually. Thank you for the Shes and for providing me a way out darkness. AMEN!
Sometimes I really struggle with confession. It feels good to know that I’m not alone in that struggle.
Terri, my understanding about confessing sins to one another is that it has to do with reconciliation among the body of believers & thwarting one of the enemy’s favorite tools against believers: guilt and shame. From my reading of these scriptures, my understanding is this: confessing to another believer isn’t how we are saved, but trusting Jesus to be our one Mediator & confessing our sins to Him *is* the one path to salvation. I hope that makes sense! That was a good question!
Terri- what’s been taught throughout my life is that the purpose of this confession, in James, is as daily practice for keeping one another accountable, being able to know what’s going on with your brother and sister in Christ and be an encouragement to them, and helping ward against pride. When we hide our sins and struggles it’s very easy to lord false Pride and become self righteous. But if I know you know my stuff, and I know your stuff, we can choose to be a support for one another and help in growth. In addition, it takes the power of Satan’s shame away! It opens my eyes that I’m not the only one who struggles- and it promotes healthy relationships with others as we bond over taking one another’s burdens and struggles to our shared Savior… There is so much packed in that little verse that our God wants us to get to experience..! :) And it’s all for our healing and growth and the good of others :) :)
From one pastors wife to another, this touches me on a personal note. My husband and I will have been married for 1 year now and in this first year, there has been a lot of confession. I can so relate to thinking that hiding feels safer than sharing BUT I can also relate to the release after sharing our secret confessions and lifting them up to God. I am so thankful that God brings Scripture to mind when we need it most, and I am so glad he gives us that mountain of grace and meets us where we are at. Thank you for sharing your story. Keep sharing.
A Taste for Truth by Barb Raveling helped change my thinking in this area. Praying for you!
Terri, my understanding is that when we wrong someone, we are to confess that to them in repentance, asking for forgiveness. All our sin should be confessed to God, but I take this verse to mean (as I’ve read in commentaries) that we should confess our sins against each other to each other. That repentance and forgiveness is very healing!
Confession brings healing and mercy.
Scarlet, thank you for sharing about God’s power and mercy in your life. Our stories are as much, if not more, for others as ourselves. Sharing His power multiplies its effectiveness!
What courage and submission. Thank you.
It takes courage and humility to confess sin. Those are always admirable qualities. We so often think confession is an admission of failure or weakness. When is a cry for help to be seen as anything but brave? We apply inaccurate labels because that’s exactly what Satan wants us to think. He wants us stuck. Jesus wants us free. Confess your sin to Him and to a trusted Christian (be selective) for their support, encouragement and prayers. And hold your head up high.
Loved today’s devotion. I need forgiveness for the way I am with my kids. Very impatient and unkind sometimes. Lord please forgive me and give me the strength to show my kids patience and kindness like you have shown me.
Oh I needed these verses and this devotional today. I have struggled for over 40 years with a food addiction. Food is my idol and I run to it when I don’t want to feel my emotions or when I need comfort. The Lord is just teaching me this and it is so hard to break free from. When food doesn’t work I spend money. Lord forgive me that I seem to turn to you as a last resort even though I would have said I come to you first. Today’s verses reminded me, He is here waiting and His mercies are new each morning. He loves me and will help me overcome if I will just turn to Him in those moments instead of food or spending frivously. Thank you for hearing me sisters.
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God, you do all things well. ♥️
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I so needed this this morning. I woke up angry with someone. As I festered in this “righteous indignation” I seemed to spiral into deeper negativity. That’s no way to start the day! Despite this distraction reading Colossians 3:12-17 knocked me out of my haze. Specifically the first part: “Therefore God’s chosen ones, holy and loved, put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, accepting one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a complaint against another.” Yup, that’s me! I need to do this. I am also working through an eating addiction and could totally relate to today’s writer. Do you know what it all comes down to? Pride. I’m sorry, I didn’t say that loud enough. PRIDE!!! I’m such a proud person that I’m afraid to confess because I don’t want to be seen as lesser. I hate showing weakness unless it’s on my terms. God, I’m sorry Lord for putting myself in front of you. Everyday I seem to need to put a death to myself. Take this anger and shame and replace it with Your love and peace. Thank you for forgiving me. Thank you for showing when I need to be forgiven. Thank you for the comfort of Your love.
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Any idea why this scripture says to confess sins to one another when there is one mediator between God and us and that is Jesus Christ?
I loved this devotion. Not only is it a reminder that I need to confess my sins to God and to each other to find healing…I get to do that for others by being quick to forgive, and extending mercy and grace to my brothers and sisters who are struggling.
I really loved today’s reading. It taught me that confessing my sins is not just something I am called to do. It will bring healing. It also brings me closer to Him and back into relationship when I am feeling far from God.
Lord thank you for confession!
How often do we think that we don’t need to confess our sins to God…God knows them. But as humans in broken fleshly bodies, if we don’t open up to God, to others around us then the secret is still just that, a secret. I have had to confess sins from YEARS ago that I never released to the Lord. Sins that the enemy kept bringing up and whispering lies about to my heart. Once I opened up to the Lord about them things changed, I was no longer in bandage to a past that has nothing to do with my present or future. There are times where we need to confess to those around us yes, but sometimes we just need to open up to the Lord and be honest with Him to allow that healing to start.
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Thank you for the broken parts Lord. Forgive me. Thank you for the healing to come.
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His healing, however He chooses to give it, is always miraculous. It’s always a kindness and mercy. ❤️ May I always remember that there’s healing in the broken parts if I will just tell the One who loves me no matter what and who has promised to never leave me. He’s safe and offers a healing and restoration that I will never be able to achieve on my own.
Forgive me LORD!
Thank you Lord God for calling us out of darkness and into your wonderful Light. Open our hearts and lips as needed for confession. May we know and confess our sin. We need it as individuals. We need it as a nation. Purify our hearts. Then Lord God, may the confession from our hearts be confession to a lost world of who You are, your grace, your mercy, your love.
I recently was listening to another teaching by Tim Keller about the prodigal son. This message was entitled, He Came to Himself. The son realized his sin. Tim Keller was talking about how confession should be a regular part of a Christians life.Here is a description of the teaching from the sermon that was posted :We’re looking at the parables of Luke 15. Of course, the biggest, longest, and most famous of them is the parable of the prodigal son. We see how the grace of God not only changes my individual life or your individual life, but how the grace of God creates a new kind of community, a new kind of human society, and how it creates new kinds of relationships.
This parable is essentially an image about the meltdown of a community and the restoration of it. The key theme we’re going to look at in this text is the theme of repentance — this is crucial for the restoration of community even though the word repentance is not in this text, what we have when the younger son decides to go back to his father is an example of repentance. out three things: the importance of repentance, the anatomy of it (what it’s actually made of), the key to doing it, and the kind of community that results from it. I never thought about how repentance can change even a community. Here is a link if you want to listen; https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/timothy-keller-sermons-podcast-by-gospel-in-life/id352660924?i=1000494012649
Also, eating disorders are serious and can rob people of peace, freedom, and the ability to enjoy life. If anyone is suffering please confess and get help today. Healing and freedom are possible. Praying for those who are in this today.
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