Good Morning! I hope this post finds you smack in the middle on God’s pathway to wholeness in your life!
The desire of my heart is to see each person walking in freedom… and to be as whole as possible this side of heaven. (Read this post on Wholeness – A Biblical Perspective)
Janice, my wife, recently purchased a new devotional book – Sparkling Gems from the Greek, by Rick Renner. Renner takes a verse and explores the Greek meaning of key words and then writes about its application. Today I read his take on the first part of James 5:16, a familiar verse to many of us.
“Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” James 5:16 New Living Translation
“Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed.” James 5:16 The Message
One technique that Satan uses to keep us in bondage is to keep us from sharing our faults and sins with others. He knows that if we keep them to ourselves, then these shortcomings or sins can wreck havoc with our minds and souls. That’s why God inspired James to write this scripture. God knows that one of Satan’s strategies is for us to keep our sins a secret —- to keep them to ourselves. As Renner writes, we can be ‘enslaved’ by these sins and the lies of Satan that we keep to ourselves. On the other hand, when we share them or ‘confess’ them to others, they lose their power on us and we can experience a greater degree of freedom!
First and foremost, God desires that you confess your sins to him. When you do that, God is faithful to forgive you. This forgiveness of your sins will help you be free. 1 John 1:9 But sometimes it can be healthy to share the sin with another person. God wants to see you free, and so do I. If you’ve been in bondage to an unconfessed sin or a lie or to anything…. and you’ve been keeping it to yourself… I encourage you to first and foremost, confess it to God. You might also share it with a trusted follower of Jesus. Perhaps your pastor or a counselor or another mature believer that you know.
Your Brother, in Christ.
A Related Blog Post – Sin, Guilt and Your Health
