We’ve all heard the saying “confession is good for the soul“. When you stop and think about it, our entire lives and future can hinge on those six words.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” 1 John 1:9
Forgiveness is there for everyone if only they confess and ask for it but I’m not here to talk about forgiveness or unrighteousness. I’m here to talk about confession.
I have found myself in many situations I would consider dire, be it financial, emotional, physical, or spiritual. In all these, I have found confession is key. It could be a utility bill you don’t have the money for, a sickness afflicting you or someone you know or perhaps you struggle with anxiety or depression. In all these, sometimes the best thing you can do is admit that you can’t do it on your own or that you are not ok.
One morning I listened to someone I look up to, someone I hold in high regard, confess that we all have problems and issues that we hide from others for fear of what they may think. This person included themselves in their statement. This ignited a fire in me. Perhaps I was not alone.
I began to seek this out in my Bible, an answer to dealing with what people think of others and the fear of judgment. What I found quickly became one of my favorite verses of scripture.
“Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” James 5:16.
Those words left me in a conundrum. To follow the scripture and confess my faults and by doing so admit one of my faults was caring what those same people thought of me.
One recent Sunday I was present as a testimony was given about feeling as if God had left and they were walking alone but they looked back and He had been there the entire time, it was just a difficult season. A similar testimony followed and I felt as if both were for me. As if God was speaking directly to me through them and the further I reflect on this, the more true it becomes.
In the end, confession is good for the soul; for you and for I. So, painful as it may be, here is my confession.
For most of my life, I have been so scared and concerned with what other people would think of me that I kept to myself. I have struggled with a lot in my life. I have dealt with depression and anxiety. I have been overwhelmed with grief and loss. I have walked in dry seasons, feeling as if I was forsaken, never to feel the presence of God again. I have wallowed in self-pity. I have doubted that the God I serve even exists and if He did, how could He love someone like me?
What I found is it all comes down to confession. You may never know the struggles someone else is going through until you confess your own. You are not alone in your fight, the Bible states in the first chapter of Ecclesiastes that there is no new thing under the sun. Everything that you are going through someone else has before you and others will after you.
Talk to your pastor, to your friends, to your spouse, and to your children. Talk to your teachers, your parents, to anyone you can trust with the secrets of your heart. You will find love and support you never believed possible. Most importantly, talk to Jesus. He knows all your problems and fears already, but go ahead and tell Him about them anyway.
– Steve Crouch
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