CONFESSING

Researchers at one university have found that people who have a guilty conscience experience “a powerful urge to wash themselves”. To understand this urge, the researchers asked half the study volunteers to talk about things they had done in the past that they were still ashamed of. They were then asked to wash their hands as a symbol of cleaning their conscience. Those who had talked about their shame washed their hands at “twice the rate of those who had not talked about their past”.

The Bible tells us about the only way of properly dealing with sin— confession. In the Old Testament, one of the ways the Israelites were supposed to clean themselves and have purity before God and in their community was by confessing their sins (NUMBERS 5:5-8). To confess means: “to speak the same”; “to agree with”. When the people confessed to God, they were agreeing with Him that what they did was wrong. But their confession showed the change they wanted to make in their lives, and their trust in God to forgive them and make them clean again. Those who refused to admit their sins just allowed sin to take deeper root within their lives and community.

Admitting our sin means we can know true forgiveness, joy and peace. If we confess our sins, God is faithful to forgive (1 JOHN 1:9).

Want more . . . ?

Check out What does it mean to repent? online at ourdailybread.org/lookingdeeper