Confession: A Good Thing

Have you ever heard the old statement, “Confession is good for the soul?”  While not found in the Bible it does pack a lot of truth. Maybe this is why James 5:16 encourages us to “confess our faults one to another.” Failure to do so can lead to incredible heartache and spiritual desperation. Its importance is summed up in the following story. “London held its breath in June 1987. While working on a building site, a construction foreman thought his workers had hit a cast iron pipe while using a pile driver. After picking up and then dropping the huge object, they realized the pipe looked like a bomb. It was—a 2,200-pound World War II bomb, one of the largest the Germans dropped during the blitz which killed more than 15,000 Londoners. After evacuating the area, a 10-man bomb disposal unit worked 18 hours before deactivating the seven-foot device.” Unconfessed sin, like an unexploded bomb, can rest in the heart of an individual—or in a church. Unless it is deactivated through confession, it can detonate and cause great damage. So how do you disarm this bomb within? The first key is taking responsibility. You must acknowledge your responsibility. Don’t blame your circumstances, your husband, your wife, your boyfriend, your girlfriend, your boss, your employees, or your pastor. Don’t even blame the devil. Your sin is your responsibility. We can say, “The devil made me do it” however, sin ultimately occurs as an act of your will—and you are responsible for it. Second, you confess the sin. Third, ask for forgiveness then receive it. Fourth, remember to forgive others as well as yourself. When taking these measures you will find that “confession really is good” and it definitely brings healing to the soul.