Now that you’ve learned the value of enjoying your new life in Christ, we’ll dive into the principle of confessing your sins and turning from them.
The Scriptures amply illustrate the adverse physical effects of failing to confess our sins and stubbornly refusing to turn from them.
Consider Psalm 32:3-4 (New International Version): “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.”
Also consider Psalm 38:3-7 (NIV): “Because of your wrath there is no health in my body; there is no soundness in my bones because of my sin. My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear. My wounds fester and are loathsome because of my sinful folly. I am bowed down and brought very low; all day long I go about mourning. My back is filled with searing pain; there is no health in my body.”
The antidote to physical suffering caused by unconfessed sin is simply to confess the sin and turn from it, for, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9, NIV).
God’s forgiveness releases us from feelings of guilt and thereby promotes physical health. In fact, David specifically observed this in Psalms 32:5 (NIV): “Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.’ And you forgave the guilt of my sin.”
This article was originally published in “Managing Yourself” by Steve Douglass.
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