Confession: The Path to Healing.

So, it has been a day since I posted "From the hands of a failure." And I feel as though I need to write a follow up. I want to give you all some clairty in the why of my posting such a raw post. It all falls back on my heavy conviction of confession.

I gave you all the gruesome details of my struggle, and my fall, and I kinda left it at that. I am a strong believer in healing--healing that stems from grace alone. But I also believer that in order for healing there is a process that we have to take on. And that process is both confession, and repentence. And I don't believe you can repent without confessing. So let me try to explain my stance of confession.

I believe that confession--true confession--requires no pride. In fact it plays a great deal in destroying pride.
There are two types of confession. One is prideful, and one is not.
A prideful confession is one that seeks out pity. You confess so that people will feel bad for you.
The other kind, is for healing. Where you come humbly, realizing the filth of your actions.

Let's get into this. Whenever I fall--I sin--one of the passages that I first go to is Psalm 51. And if you are struggling with sin, I strongly suggest that you study this chapter. It was written by King David after he committed adultery with Bathsheeba, and killed her husband Uraiah. Wow. Haha, David messed up.
Well, writing was an outlet for David. He released pain, joy, heartache, guilt, anger, everything, through hebrew poetry and songs, many of which are recorded in what we call The Psalms.
And in this Psalm he writes down what he is going through, after this sin of his. And honestly, it describes exactly how I feel when I have fallen into sexual sin.
Since I am covering confession, I will try to stay on Psalm 51 very briefly, cause I have a lot to cover concerning this. My focal point in that Psalm is verse 17:

"The sacrifices of God area broken spirit,
A broken heart,
O God, you will not despise."

This is the heart of true confession. And where we need to start in our confessions. In confession, we first need to realize our filth, what we have done. We need to let conviction--the healthy form of guilt--sink in. We need to be heartbroken over our sins. We need to feel broken over our crime against God. Pride has no place before God. And I fear for the man who thinks so much of himself as to stand pridefully before God.

Why should we confess? Several reasons. The primary purpose of confession is healing. Jeremiah 3 records God talking to Israel about there sins, and concerning them He says in verses 12-13:

“‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the Lord,
    ‘I will frown on you no longer,
    for I am faithful,’ declares the Lord,
    ‘I will not be angry forever.
    Only acknowledge your guilt—
    you have rebelled against the Lord your God,
    you have scattered your favors to foreign gods
    under every spreading tree,
    and have not obeyed me,’”
    declares the Lord.

All that God requires of us is that we realize and admitt our wrong, and He will forgive us. And as time goes on, He will heal us. This is what God requires. Why? Because God gives grace to the humble, but He brings low those who are prideful. (James 4:6, and all throughout the proverbs). He requires no act on our parts, but merely us to humble ourselves, and turn to Him. This is the beauty of God and His grace. 2 Chronicles 7:14 would back me up on this too.
God is full of grace, but first requires humility.

True confession has no pride. Because it is confession that seeks out nothing for itself except healing. It is humble enought to admit that it is wrong, that it needs help.

Confession is a sign of conviction. John 3:


19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

Confession is coming to the light. If you refuse to come into the light, it is because you hate the light, because the light will expose you. But the exposure of our sins shouldn't be an issue. It clearly states in the last verse that God sees our sins plainly, even though they are done in the dark. So, therefore, confession is a sign of conviction, coming into the light, confessiong to God and man what God already knows.

For me personally, I would much rather come out and expose my own sins then to have God expose me before all men (Matthew 10:26). Or far worse, that I would have to take on the punishment for my deeds that I kept hidden (Hebrews 10:31).

And then there is confession before men. I normally refer back to James 5:14-16 when on this subject, where it specifically says to confess in order to be healed. And that you will be healed.

Now am I saying that in order for healing that you must write a blog and post it on the interwebs for all to see? No. I wish I hadn't. I did so only under conviction. And in doing so, Christ is using that to humble me. That my filth is known.

Let me give you what I did personally. During the entire time that I was in this sin, I was constantly praying for help. I hated my sin. I still hate it. The weekend came around, and I started to struggle, slightly less. But still struggling a lot. I constantly came before God acknowledging my guilt and my crimes. And I believe, according to what the Bible says, that forgiveness was given, and healing began. But in order for healing to be complete, the process must continue. So, Sunday night, I grabbed two of the guys from my youth group, two that I trust immensely and that have helped me grow in my faith tremendously. And I told them everything. I asked them to pray for me (which they did immediately, I praise God for them), and I asked them to hold me accountable. And I had them take measures to keep me from falling.

And then I wrote the blog. I wrote it as a personal note. I get that confession is hard. Especially after you confess once, and then you sin right after, so you have to confess again. It's embarressing, it's humiliating. I know. But it is worth it, if we come to a place of healing. This is the way God has given for us to be healed. One that requires humility.

So, if you are struggling with sin, I beg of you, humble yourself before God. Confess to Him the deeds that He already knows. And also confess to Christians around you who keep you strong. God is a Lover, and a Healer. He is faithful. Seek Him.

He is greater than i