If We Confess Our Sins

If we confess our sins He will forgive us, but why confess our sins to God to begin with? He already knows what we have done and ultimately knows if we are sorry for it or not. It seems like it could be a waste of time to confess.

Confessing our sins is completely opposite to human nature. A study of prison inmates showed that most were convicted and sent to prison not because of the first thing they did, but because of the second thing they did to cover up the first thing.

We see this same action in the first story of sin in the Bible. Instead of openly confessing to God that they ate the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve covered themselves and hid from God, in some sort of attempt to get away with it.

King David, a man after God's own heart, did it too. When he fell into sin with Bathsheba and found out she was pregnant, he had a chance to come clean and confess. Instead he tried to cover it up which eventually resulted in him murdering, in cold blood, Bathsheba's righteous husband Uriah.

We can see these same things happening in movies, in the lives of those around us and ultimately in our own lives if we are completely honest. No wonder 1 John 1:8 says, "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." If we attempt to cover up our sins instead of confessing them the only ones we are fooling is ourselves.

The wonderful news is found in verse nine, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." After we have sinned, and covered it up with more sin, the moment we come clean and cofess it all to God he is still faithful to not only forgive us but to cleanse us from all our unrighteousness, making us pure and clean in His sight. God is always faithful despite our unfaithfulness.

Confession: May I confess my wrongs to God and to others the moment I realize them in order to recieve forgiveness and cleansing. May I not try to hide and conceal my wrongs causing more heartache and pain to myself and others.