Foundations of Faith: What Does It Mean to Be a Christian?نموونە

Staying Close to God

Part of your journey with God consists of confession and repentance. If these are new words to your vocabulary, you are not alone! A foundational part of the Christian faith is confessing sin and turning away from it. So, let’s define these two terms.

Confession

Confession is agreeing with God that what He says is right and that you are doing things that go against His Word. When you confess, you bring your offenses (sins) to God, telling Him exactly what you’ve been doing wrong.

The Holy Spirit helps you become aware of your sin and your need to admit it to God. Pride would like to tell you that you don’t need to confess, however, the Bible is clear that you are to confess your sins to God.

“But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.”

- 1 John 1:9

It’s important to confess because your sin puts a wedge between you and God. Your sin is like a splinter that needs to be removed. If you leave it untouched, it will fester and cause pain. When you confess to God, you are removing the splinter and allowing God to heal and grow this space with His Spirit.

There is nothing that you can hide from God. He knows everything you’ve done, are doing, and will do. He wants you to agree with Him and acknowledge to yourself, as well, that you have done things that are contrary to what He wants you to do. Confession is not for God, but rather it’s for you. This act humbly positions you for change.

Repentance

Repentance is change and means to turn away from your sin.

Repentance naturally flows from confessing your sin. Pride will tell you that you can skip over confession and make the behavioral changes yourself. After all, it’s the behavior change that’s sought after in repentance. Without confessing your sin to God and clearing the path for the Holy Spirit to be involved, you will fall short.

Just as a parent helps a child replace poor behaviors with good behaviors, the Holy Spirit helps you turn away from your sins and guides you toward doing things that please God.

You can miss out on God’s great purpose and blessings for your life when you live with unconfessed and unrepented sin. God is patiently waiting with open arms for His sons and daughters to come home. All it takes is humility and faith to believe that a loving Father will hear our honest pleas and cleanse us of our sin.

Take a moment right now to repent — to change your mind and turn from whatever is separating you from God and those around you. "Father, I believe You love me. Your Word says that it is your patience and kindness that leads me to repentance. So I come to You humbly and confess my sin. I thank You that You forgive me by the blood of Jesus, and ask for a fresh cleansing of my body, soul, and spirit. Teach me how to walk honestly before You in repentance every day. In Jesus' name. Amen."