September 3

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9.

We have considered this passage before (July 16), but the Lord would have us discover some additional truths. I find that confession is not necessarily a common venture in the life of some Christians, yet it should be. I have much to learn in this area. I am talking about the confession of specific sins in our prayer life with Jesus. In this passage the Lord is not asking for us to speak in broad generalities: instead, He is asking for us to reveal any and all sins in as much detail as we can muster. Certainly, you may argue that He already knows of those sins in far more detail than we do. Yet, we are to confess them so that we can be cleansed from all unrighteousness. In other words, we are to feel and to know that we are cleansed. God has already provided the forgiveness by the finished work of His Son, but we are to realize this in new and exciting ways so that we can approach Him with total confidence—not withholding any part of our being from Him. This is also the message of Hebrews 10:22 —“let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” We can not approach God in this manner if we are harboring guilt or unconfessed sin. As long as we think we are covering up something we will not feel or know that we are clean—from our perspective. From God’s perspective we are clean in Christ, but we need to feel clean in our perceived condition before Him. And that is the purpose of confession!

Today Lord Jesus, I come to You with the desire to confess each and every sin that I commit. You love me so much that You want to hear my confession. You want to hear me proclaim what is on my mind, what is bothering me about my behavior, and what difficulties I am creating with my neighbor. Thank You for Your great patience and love. Thank You for Your attentive ear. I love You, Amen.
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