Confession is Good for the Soul

As often happens, when you need to teach others something you get the opportunity to work through it on your own first.  Recently I had a time of confession with a friend of mine—and he forgave me. Receiving his forgiveness was a huge relief to me even though he’d already settled the matter in his own mind and heart.  God was good, and I could feel the accusations I’d been carrying diminish.  Here is how David described this:

“...when I kept silent (and avoided confession), my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.  For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.”  Psalm 32:3-4

We can almost feel the weight David carried, and his struggle against God’s call to confess.

There really are two elements at play here.  Every human heart has a conscience, which some describe as an instrument of moral awareness.  This is what Paul points out in Romans 2:15. Additionally, the work of the Holy Spirit is to “...convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment...” John 16:8.

We need to remember that rejecting confession dulls the conscience, and that the Holy Spirit’s prompting is a gift, not a burden.  

In Psalm 32, David also discusses the resolution and relief he found in confession:

“Blessed (to be envied) is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.  Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.”  Psalm 32:1-2

Oh, how beautiful it is to humbly bring our sin before God and others in confession and repentance, especially since God forgives and embraces us when we do this.  We once again feel clean inside; we sense the weight lifted off our shoulders.  Our whole outlook brightens.

So, what is confession?  With respect to God, we can define it as agreeing with God in our hearts about the truth and then proclaiming it out loud.  With respect to others, it is agreeing with God and speaking out the confessions to others as needed.  This is the path to healing in relationships of all types.  

In my experience, the Holy Spirit works with us in stages.  In the example I mentioned earlier, the Holy Spirit let me know there was an issue, and I self-justified.  He later gave me more clarity, but I still held onto my initial reaction.  As time went on, I put it off due to business and travel.  Finally, I had full conviction and full clarity.  I thanked God and agreed to confess it all.  But I also asked God to work out an opportunity to allow the confession.  In His grace, God did so.  It was beautiful to watch Him open the door.

But confession is not only cleaning up our messes and getting right before God and others.  It is also a declaration of the truth we have embraced—or haven’t yet but need to.  

In the early church, this was often done to establish a firm theological base by repeating a creed—sometimes called a “confession of faith”—such as the Apostle’s Creed or the Nicene Creed.  But we can also do this more generally by confessing the goodness of God and His truth.  It can even be used as a way to reorient our soul, and as a means to fight spiritual battles.  Notice how the sons of Korah reorient their hearts in Psalms 42 and 43. When they are oppressed or depressed, they talk to their soul.  They do this three times, repeating it in verses 42:5, 42:11 and 43:5:

“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?  Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.”  

Confessing God’s truth has incredible power.  We can speak to our soul and correct the lies, the discouragement, the melancholy that we carry. It’s always best to confess out loud so that the whole spiritual realm takes notice.

One more aspect of confession. In Psalm 9:1-2, we see that confession of God’s goodness is a choice.  We can and should be intentional. Notice the four-fold repetition of David’s choice to confess using the statement “I will”:

“I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.”

Confession is a powerful spiritual tool that God has given us.  The more we understand it and use it, the more powerful it becomes.  Confession really is good for the soul.