ADMIT IT



There is something each person needs to be aware of—when you sin; others pay a price, too. When you lose your temper, others suffer. When you lie, others suffer. When you’re unfaithful, others suffer. Just like when King David began his little tryst with Bathsheba, he apparently gave no thought at all to the price that others would pay for his sin. Then David’s pastor, Nathan, confronted him about what he had done and after the rebuke David confessed, “I have sinned against the Lord.” (2 Samuel 11:13)

If you are going to survive the failure of sin in your life—we all have sinned—then like David you must take the first step and confess your sin. “Confess your sin” is a phrase voiced often in church. What does it mean? It means you take responsibility for your actions. You say, “I did it. I’m at fault. I’m not going to transfer the blame off on someone else. It was me.”

Too often one’s so-called confessions amount to nothing more than blame-shifting—“Yes, I lost my temper, but he/she had it coming.” Confession means that you stop passing blame to others, and you take responsibility for your choices, your actions, and the consequences brought about by your sinful behavior. Confessing sin means you surrender to God’s authority. You can get yourself into a mess of sin when you want to make up your own set of rules. When you confess your sins, you are acknowledging the Lordship of Christ—the supremacy of God.

Only when you realize that God, not you, is the center of the universe are you able to turn over control to God. Here is how David put it into words when he was coming clean about himself in Psalm 51:3, “For I know my transgressions and my sin is always before me.” Do you hear how he’s taking responsibility for his actions? He goes further saying in verse four, “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.”

Confessing you sin involves taking full responsibility for your actions and surrendering your will to God’s will. When you do this He forgives you—totally and completely. “He who conceals his sin does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.” (Proverbs 28:13)

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

If you want to survive the failure of sin, then confess it. Admit it. Take responsibility!

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