Confession...Good for the soul
A friend of mine put up an awesome post today about confession (Check it out).
Confession is hard isn't it. I'm a very private person and the thought of telling people my sins is pretty scary whether they are big or small.
Growing up in a Pentecostal church I was always fearful that during an altar call as the preacher was going around praying and prophesying and knocking people on the floor he would look at me, know my sins and yell them out in the microphone for the whole world to know. Not that I ever saw that happen, but I just knew God was out to get me and if it happened to anybody it would happen to me.
Many times I wished I was Catholic, just so I could sit in some booth and talk to a stranger and tell him all my darkest secrets and hear him say "You're forgiven". But I was sure he'd say something like say ten "Hail Mary's", do something with the Rosary, etc... and I'd be discovered as a Protestant (oh, no!). So I never went and I continued confessing to God alone and while in my mind I believed and understood I was forgiven. Forgiveness took it's time seeping into my heart.
Recently I started meeting with a friend after hearing several people extol the virtues of confession. We share what's going on in our lives, pray, and confess a little. It's hard, but it's good. For that instant my friend represents God for me. He's understanding, not judgmental. He listens, doesn't lecture. He encourages, doesn't reprimand. He forgives, doesn't punish. And I feel better. Lightening doesn't strike me. The world does not stop. And what I thought was so terrible, really wasn't that bad. What I thought was so big, really seems small.
It's humbling, frightening and awkward, but very good for my soul.
I love the quote from my friends blog...
“A man who confesses his
sins in the presence of a brother knows that he is no longer alone with
himself; he experiences the presence of God in the reality of the other
person” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Pray for me that I will have the courage to continue the discipline of confession. Not only to muddle through it, but to embrace it as God's tool to shape this marred vessel into the masterpiece he desires (Psalm 138:8).
And I encourage everyone to do the same.
Confession is hard isn't it. I'm a very private person and the thought of telling people my sins is pretty scary whether they are big or small.
Growing up in a Pentecostal church I was always fearful that during an altar call as the preacher was going around praying and prophesying and knocking people on the floor he would look at me, know my sins and yell them out in the microphone for the whole world to know. Not that I ever saw that happen, but I just knew God was out to get me and if it happened to anybody it would happen to me.
Many times I wished I was Catholic, just so I could sit in some booth and talk to a stranger and tell him all my darkest secrets and hear him say "You're forgiven". But I was sure he'd say something like say ten "Hail Mary's", do something with the Rosary, etc... and I'd be discovered as a Protestant (oh, no!). So I never went and I continued confessing to God alone and while in my mind I believed and understood I was forgiven. Forgiveness took it's time seeping into my heart.
Recently I started meeting with a friend after hearing several people extol the virtues of confession. We share what's going on in our lives, pray, and confess a little. It's hard, but it's good. For that instant my friend represents God for me. He's understanding, not judgmental. He listens, doesn't lecture. He encourages, doesn't reprimand. He forgives, doesn't punish. And I feel better. Lightening doesn't strike me. The world does not stop. And what I thought was so terrible, really wasn't that bad. What I thought was so big, really seems small.
It's humbling, frightening and awkward, but very good for my soul.
I love the quote from my friends blog...
“A man who confesses his
sins in the presence of a brother knows that he is no longer alone with
himself; he experiences the presence of God in the reality of the other
person” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Pray for me that I will have the courage to continue the discipline of confession. Not only to muddle through it, but to embrace it as God's tool to shape this marred vessel into the masterpiece he desires (Psalm 138:8).
And I encourage everyone to do the same.
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posted by Rich @ 2:51 PM
1 Comments
1 Comments:
confession is really really hard isn't it? i think thats one of the reasons it is so powerful - there are times when i just cannot bear the thought of telling amy some thing that i thought or did - and some times it feels like my list is so long and just paints this picture of a judgmental horrible person - but when we are done and she prays for me and speaks over me "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (1john 9) it is amazing - i actually for a moment can almost taste the feeling of holiness, blamelessness, pureness that i have in that moment, and then the awe comes that jesus died to make that feeling possible and it just makes it so much easier to continue walking this walk and committing to change and to strive to be holy - because i get this little taste of being holy and forgiven every 2 weeks. also something cool that happens is that once in awhile there will be a "theme" to my confession list and sometimes amy can pick it up when i had no idea (i am sure a lot of this is god), and when she prays for me she brings that out into the open and it is so powerful...anyways i just love this discipline so much and think it is the most transforming thing i have ever done - there is so much baggage attached to it because it isn't practiced commonly in evangelical circles (well maybe it is but if so i didn't know about it) and seems like a really catholic thing to do - but i wish that it was more common, i think everyone could get so much out of it - but it IS hard to find the right person. i have friends who want to do it but just haven't found that safe or right person yet- anyways this comment is as long as a post so i'll stop rambling now....
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