Tuesday, October 5th, 2010

“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.  The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” (James 5:16 NIV)

The other day, I was listening to a sermon that my pastor preached about confession and intercession.  He taught of the importance of confessing our sins to one another and praying for one another so that we could be healed.  When we try to cover up our sins, we expend alot of time and energy to keep them concealed, which results in emotional and spiritual bondage and imprisonment.  But when we confess our sins to someone that we trust, we free ourselves from the stronghold that sin has over our lives.  As I listened to the sermon, I thought about the things we try to hide from others like adultery, fornication, lies, same sex attractions, addictions, pride, selfishness, etc.  We remain on the “down low” with our issues, thinking it’s better that no one else knows.  But the Bible teaches us the opposite of that thought in James 5:16.  In the scripture, James admonishes us to confess our sins to each other so we can be healed.  Now that doesn’t mean you should go around blasting your business to any and everybody.  It refers to sharing in a safe environment with a person or people who will keep your business confidential and pray for you.  It means sharing with those who have your best interests at heart and will not judge you.  If you struggle to find that person, seek help from your pastor or a Christian counselor.  Do whatever you have to do to come out of the closet with your sins so you can be healed.  Jesus died so that we could be free from the captivity of sin.  Will you walk in that freedom or will you continue to stay in hiding?  The choice is up to you…  ~SMC