How To Confess Your Sins
James 5:16 “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” (KJV)
If you want to know how to confess your sins, it is as easy as confessing your faults. I will give you examples of how this works.
But first, I would like to present a different way of looking at what we consider sin is. We all have faults. However, we don’t really look at faults as sin. We look at them as things we need to improve on. This is true, but it doesn’t make us realize that our faults are sin and so we won’t recognize the need to confess them.
The bible talks about sins of “omission” and sins of “commission.” Omission being sin we commit without trying to or even without knowing it. I am not talking about addictions. These are not sins of omission. Sins of commission we know it is wrong to do, but consciously make choice that this is what we plan to do. Sins of commission have to do with what you know.
The bible tells us if we truly know God, we won’t live a life of sin. Sure, we will still have faults. But this is why we pray daily to be forgiven. And we have to practice forgiving others if we want to be forgiven.
In addition to confessing our sins to God, the bible also instructs us to confess our faults to each other so that we can be healed. What do you recognize in your life as a fault today? Then, you can go to God and confess that to him.
Did you also know that you can be in an ordinary conversation talking to someone about what you would like to improve about you? This is confession your fault. But it is good to share your faults only with someone who can provide you with proper guidance or encouragement for getting better.
I wanted to start eating right everyday to improve my health. I also wanted to start a routine exercise. I told my daughter about it. Now she makes sure I am staying on track by challenging me and regularly asking questions about what I have eaten for the day.
Confessing your faults to others, gets things out in the open and opens up the opportunity for others to help you. You then have a support system.
If you have financial problems because of your spending habits, you can talk to someone who is good at managing money and let them know that you would like to be better. They can help you by putting a plan in place for you to follow and you have to cooperate.
If you have emotional issues or personality conflicts with people, you can confess that issue to someone close to you and the can help you get over those things.
The key to confessing your faults is confessing to the right person or people. You want to talk to someone who genuinely cares about your well being and has the right knowledge to help you get better. Sometimes people who love us don’t have the answers and so the answers we get are inaccurate and don’t benefit us. This is why I stress this.
Lastly, even if you don’t know who to talk to and your desire is to get better, you can Pray to God and ask Him to lead you to the right person or information that will help you.
If you are willing to know the things that are wrong and that are hindering you in your life, God will show you if you allow him.