If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)
In a devotion I was reading the author said that when God points out where we are have sin in our life, “don’t admit it; confess it.”
That was an interesting point, so I looked further at those two words. I found the following on grammar.com:
“When talking about sin, hurt and fear etc., there is a huge difference between the two verbs.
- Admission is the mental acknowledgment of a fact that it is true however,
- Confession is a written or oral acknowledgment of guilt by a party that was accused of an offence.”
“Someone can admit their mistake but not deal with it. For example; if a person admits that he cheated on his wife with another girl, that person is no better off and neither his relationship with his wife or God. However, if that same person confesses that he cheated on his wife with another girl, it means that he actually feels guilty about it and feels wrongful about his actions. He deals with his sin through repentance.
“So in other words, admission requires no effort but confession requires an effort as well as an action.
“Confession is followed by forgiveness, restoration and reconciliation.”
Sometimes God has His finger on one small aspect of our life, a relationship that we need to make right, a habit to change, etc. He is patiently waiting to see how we respond to that call before He decides what the next lesson will be and if we are ready for it.
Next time God points out your sin, will you admit your crimes or confess them?
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