Over the past couple of weeks, the Lord has been speaking to me from 1 John 1:9—a verse that has been preached over a million times – “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness”
The Lord reminded me a few weeks back that I must not neglect the first part of this verse.
Isn’t confession a one-time event? many ask. No, it is a daily event.
After I accepted Lord Jesus as my personal Saviour, I confessed that I am a sinner. The Lord reminded me that confession is not a one-time event. Every day we must strive to become more and more like Him. The Lord is faithful and just; He forgives us of all our mistakes.
There are many aspects of our daily lives in which we stray from the purpose for which we were created, and we should seek forgiveness from Christ. According to Philippians 3:12, Christ is faithful and just and forgives us of all our transgressions if we confess them to Him. We should strive to reach perfection, which Christ first possessed in me, according to Paul. I do not claim to have already accomplished these things, or to have achieved perfection, but I strive to do so.
What must we do for this perfection? —We must confess our transgressions. You must confess your sins on a daily basis if it is not a regular routine for you. It will be tremendously beneficial if you saw confession as an everyday activity.
Sitting with the Holy Spirit, I’ve been asking Him to reveal to me every day some of the things I do unconsciously that are habitual sinful behaviours; things that I think negatively about that aren’t in line with the Word of God. We are so good at categorising sin as big and small sins.
Our flesh is accustomed to certain behaviours that we don’t consider sinful. It may be something as simple as—or not so simple—as being quick to anger. The Bible says do not let the sun go down on your anger; gossip, talking about other people behind their back, and other similar transgressions are considered sins. The Holy Spirit notices our sinful ways and tells us, ‘Enough!’ when we act in this manner. Despite the fact that Christ has redeemed us, we still have to overcome sin on a day-to-day basis. My two-cents on this—may we be quick to confess, for Ephesians 1:7 says that God is rich in kindness and grace and has bought our freedom with his Son’s blood. A person is only rich if he is generous—this means that our God is generous when it comes to extending kindness and grace. We can simply go to Him, because we know that He will readily forgive us.
When Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden, they went to hide; the same as we do sometimes. We do not need to hide. The Bible makes this clear. When we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to pardon us; we saw how kind and merciful He was in purchasing our emancipation, we have been redeemed, and therefore sin is no longer a bond. Because we have been freed and bought by the blood of His Son, He has forgiven our sins, so we do not need to be enslaved to the clutches of sin anymore. We do not have to run away from God; we should pursue Him instead. We can confess our sins and expect Him to pardon us of all our transgressions. As I write these words, I preach to myself as well to be more disciplined on a daily basis. The Lord has been reminding me that He is not here to condemn you and me.
So, I urge you to make confession of sins as regular part of your daily life. A genuine “Sorry, Lord!” can take you a long way in your spiritual journey. Refine, retune and remember to repent every day.