Telling Someone Else

 When we confess the exact nature of our wrongs, the terrible isolation we've lived with for most of our lives will be exposed.  Being honest helps us break down the barriers we have erected against acceptance, forgiveness, and understanding.  None of us is perfect.  We have much to offer one another if we approach each other with an attitude of truth, humility, and grace. 

 Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. (James 5:16 NLT)

 For more years than we realize, we have been rationalizing our bad behaviour and giving ourselves permission to continue in the same pattern.  Admitting our character defects to another human being helps us get past our self-pity and self-deception.  It brings us to a place where we are willing to admit we need help and are choosing to receive it.  We experience God’s blessing and freedom when we live honestly before God and others.

 Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:1-2 NLT) 

 Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight!  Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty!  (Psalm 32:1-2 NLT)   

Prayer:  Heavenly Father, Please give me the courage to be radically honest with myself about the exact nature of my wrongs, and then admit them to You, and to another human being.  Deliver me from self-pity and self-delusion.  Give me a teachable heart and a willing spirit to walk with You on the path of life.  Amen