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The Disciplines: Confession
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April 20, 2022
What are “spiritual disciplines?” Author and pastor John Piper describes them this way:
“The spiritual disciplines are those practices found in Scripture that promote spiritual growth among believers in the gospel of Jesus Christ. They are habits of devotion, habits of experiential Christianity that have been practiced by God’s people since biblical times.”
If something’s been practiced by believers since biblical times, it’s probably pretty important, right?
The answer should be, of course, a resounding “Yes!” Yet many of us struggle to make these disciplines habits.
Today, we want to focus on just one of the many spiritual disciplines to help you grow in your walk with Jesus and equip you to begin to make these disciplines part of your daily life.
Let’s take a close look at the discipline of confession.
Psalm 32: 5–6a says this about confession,
“I acknowledge 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. Therefore, let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found.”
We see in this passage that God covers our sins with forgiveness. He did that through Jesus’ death on the cross, and we experience life in that forgiveness when we confess our sins to God. Knowing this, how much is confession a part of your life?
Let’s take a moment to learn more about what confession is and how we can begin to put this practice into our daily rhythms.
The experience of forgiveness, through Jesus’ death, poured out to us is what makes confession so good. Confession surrounds us in His steadfast love.
Take a moment to reflect on the following questions and assess where you are in your practice of confession:
1️⃣ Have you experienced or practiced confession of sin before? Why or why not?
2️⃣ Why is hiding [or covering] our sin something that is oppressive and burdensome to us?
3️⃣ What attributes of God can we bank on when we confess our sins to Him?
Spend some time each day in prayer confessing your sins to God. Declare to Him your failure to love Him, obey Him, and love others. Ask God for His forgiveness in your life. It is important that we also confess our sins with other believers [James 5:16]. Share with two or three other close and trusted Christian friends, or members of your life group where you are struggling in sin. Remind each other of the good news of Jesus’ sacrifice to forgive our sins and pronounce the blessings of forgiveness to each other (1 John 1:9).
