Confess

 Confess 

 To admit the wrong things we’ve done 

 Imagine you're sick with a bad cough. Your mum offers you some cough medicine, but you pretend you're fine. As you keep playing, your cough gets worse and worse. Finally, you admit it, you’ll only get better if you take the medicine. 

 Confessing our sins is a lot like that. It's only when we admit to God we’ve done something wrong that we can get the ‘medicine’ we need. And that medicine is forgiveness. 

 There was a time when King David kept pretending he hadn’t done wrong things, but that only made him feel worse. He couldn’t stop thinking about those bad things he’d done. “Finally,” he said to God, “I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone”. (Psa 32.5) David felt so much better after that! 

When we confess our sins, we’re agreeing with God about what sin is. It’s like we’re saying, “If You say it’s wrong, I agree it’s wrong too.” 

 We’re also admitting we did that wrong thing. Sometimes it’s really hard to do that, isn’t it? But it’s only when we get honest that things can get better.

 

Luke 15.11-24 

 One time a young man ran away from home after hurting his father's feelings. He spent his father's money on fun things. Then he ran out of money and started feeling alone, sad, and hungry. He decided to go back home. He knew he’d have to confess the wrong things he’d done – to be brave enough to tell the truth. The son said to his father, “I've sinned against God and against you. I’m sorry!” The father gave him a huge hug and said, “I thought I’d lost you. I’m so happy you’re back! Let’s have a party to celebrate!” 

 Put on a pair of dark sunglasses, then take them off. How different do things look when you take them off? Maybe with the sunglasses on, a blueberry looks black. Before we confess our sins, it’s like we’re wearing those sunglasses. We’re not seeing things as they really are. We’re telling ourselves we’ve done nothing wrong, but we’re just pretending. When we confess, it’s like taking off sunglasses. We can see what is true — what God has seen all along. 

 God, I admit that I’ve done wrong things, like __________. Thank You for forgiving me.