If we have done something that is wrong, God expects us to be honest and admit the wrong, ask His forgiveness, and repent.
Bible Verse
Psalms 32:5 (ESV) 5 I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
Forgiveness
When we keep silent about our sins and our iniquities, we become weak and fragile (Psalm 32:3-4). Sin causes us to be separated from God. When we are separated from Him, we lose the source of strength that He alone provides. There is blessing and relief to be found in forgiveness (Psalm 32:1-2). To receive that blessing and relief, we must first confess. When we have done something that we know is wrong, and we hide it, that sin will eat away at us and bring down our defenses. Sin leads to more sin unless we are willing to confess the sin and turn from it. Once we confess, God expects us to resist the devil (James 4:7). While temptation can seem overwhelming at times, when we resist Satan, he will ultimately flee.
There is a cleansing that takes place when we confess our sins and our iniquities to God. He expects us to repent of all our sins, even the most heinous that we want to hide. God wants us to open up to Him completely and ask to be forgiven even for those things that we have buried deep hoping to hide them even from God. He is all-knowing. He knows everything we have ever done and everything we will ever do. God expects honesty. If we have done something that is wrong, God expects us to be honest and admit the wrong, ask His forgiveness, and repent. Complete honesty can be difficult because it requires us to be honest with ourselves first. Yet, that is exactly what God expects. He expects us to be completely honest with ourselves and with Him.
Application
The first step to repentance is probably the most difficult. I need to be willing to open my heart to Him and ask Him to show me where I have gone astray. I must open up even the darkest and loneliest places of my heart to Him and confess where I have gone astray. Only by doing so will he forgive me and lead me in the way I should go.
What sin have you been hiding from God?
What sin do you need to lay bare before God?
Will you open that part of your life to Him today and confess and repent of that sin?
Prayer
Lord, I thank You that You are a loving and forgiving God. Help me to be honest with myself and with You about where I fall short. Give me the courage to be honest and confess even the darkest of my sins to You.
If you want to know more about having a relationship with Jesus, see the resources: How to Know God.
