Confession frees you

The Israelites had crossed into the Promised Land in a miraculous way after wandering in the desert for 40 years (see Joshua 3). They had moved into the very place they'd been longing for and everything was lovely. But...there was one guy who decided it was not enough. After a defeat of their enemy, Achan took some of the enemy's clothes, gold and silver for himself - something forbidden by God. Knowing it was wrong, he hid it.

Sometimes we can be like Achan. Things can be going well, and then we mess up. A natural reaction is to hide our mistake, hoping no-one will find out and reject us. We can feel that our failings and sin are just too bad. We talk about God never running out of forgiveness, but at the same time feel we've messed up one time too many.

Here's a gem of a verse for the times we feel that way: 'If we confess our sins to God, he can always be trusted to forgive us and take our sins away' (1 John 1:9 CEV). God's forgiveness has been cleansing people since the dawn of time, and he's not about to stop now. Whatever we've done, we can turn to him. If we're honest with him, he'll help us with even the worst of things.



So what now? Organise with a Christian you trust to meet to confess anything you need to. Pray together. It may be hard, but it will free you of any guilt controlling you.





— SCRIPTURE —

'He can always be trusted to forgive us.' 1 John 1:9 CEV
— SOULFOOD —

1 Cor 7-9, Matt 1:17, Ps 97, Pro 31:22-24