Strong in the Lord: Confession is Good for the Soul

by Marilynn Chadwick

Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed (James 5:16 NIV).

God loves us when we are weak, but he delights in making us strong. His power shines most dramatically through our weakness. We've been exploring the various ways God strengthens us. Last week we saw how structure and order can help us free ourselves from the things that rob our strength, enabling us to follow hard after Christ.

God wants us to travel lean and light through this life. Light-hearted, that is. He knows that getting rid of the internal baggage that weighs us down helps us run our race of faith. That's why he provided a way to cleanse us of the overwhelming penalty of sin through Christ's death on the cross and his resurrection.

Even after we have received God's free gift of salvation through Jesus, we sometimes find ourselves entangled in sin. Let's remind ourselves of the challenge from Hebrews 12:1 to "throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."

Confession is yet another way we can declutter our soul and grow stronger. We rid our soul of toxins that drain and weaken us by taking them to the cross. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). We confess. He forgives and purifies. If that seems too easy, just remember, it cost God everything.

One area of my life that is mentally draining and weakens my faith is worry. Over the years, I've made a lot of progress in dealing with this unwelcome intruder into my mind. But I have to be ruthless. Worry is a robber and a thief. It steals God's peace. Let's face it. Worry is exhausting. A friend of mine developed this little acronym for W.O.R.R.Y: Worry-Only-Robs-Rest-from You. How true!

But I must be alert, and when worry springs up, I confess it as sin. I take my thoughts captive, remind myself of God's power, and reflect on how he has worked in the past. Then I fill my mind with the promises in his Word. When I do this, my hope soars in proportion to my lighter mental load and I gain new strength.

What areas of your life cause you to grow weak and weary? What robs your strength? Confess those to God and trust him to give you the strength to overcome. Remember, confession is good for the soul.