On My Heart: Confession

My sweet cousin, Casey is doing a section on her blog called "On Your Heart."  This is a way to show her confessions, deep thoughts, and worries.  A way to be more vulnerable.  I absolutely love this idea and want to commend her and support her on it!  I just love this amazing, Christian woman!  

(Side note: you can find a link to her blog on the left side of my blog! )

Confession is something we should all practice in our lives.  The Bible tells us that we cannot trust our own hearts because they are sinful and wicked.

The heart is deceitful above all things

and beyond cure.

Who can understand it? 

Jeremiah 17:9

We must learn to shape our hearts to be more like Christ, which takes practice and daily discipline!  One of the best ways to do this is:

CONFESSION 

Learning to be vulnerable to others is scary.  Opening up our lives and saying, 

"I don't have it all together" 

can shake our world.  But it can also provide a lot of freedom.  The Bible encourages us to confess our sins, not only to Jesus but to others.  We were not meant to walk through this life alone.  We need to have Christian brothers and sisters to walk along side us to encourage us, pray for us, and speak truth into our lives.  If we aren't vulnerable with them and show them all sides, the good, the bad, and the ugly, how can they really help us?  Personally, I don't know what I would do without those people in my life--I am so very thankful for them!

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other 

so that you may be healed.  

The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

James 5:19

He who conceals his sins does not prosper,

but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

Proverbs 28:13

So many times, I find my self focusing on what others have done to hurt me or wrong me.  But confession brings me back to where I should be focusing my attention: on the only person I can change--ME!  I can't change my friends, family, or my spouse; I can only change me.  Paul definitely had his heart in the right place when he wrote the following verse: 

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: 

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--

of whom I am the worst.

1 Timothy 1:15

 One of my mentors once said:

"Your sin is the most important to deal with." 

~Rob Barry~

I should always be focused on MY SIN, because that is the WORST SIN.  I am the WORST OF ALL SINNERS and I need to focus on shaping my heart to be more like Christ.  If I don't have something to confess ... that is something that should scare me!