Confession That Transforms

Confession is a tough word. It's tripping with negativity. After all, just about every time we hear the word confession it's in connection with some guilty criminal or a child caught in an act of disobedience sheepishly saying, "I'm sorry," complete with protruding bottom lip. We've been conditioned to see confession as a negative thing, something that is always connected with guilt & shame.

However, if you take a look at Nehemiah 9 & 10, you see the other side of confession that gives us a more complete view & a more hopeful view of what confession is all about. After all confession really means "to tell the truth." It doesn't necessarily have to be negative or guilt ridden. It's just the truth. In fact, real repentance & confession actually is the way out of the guilt & shame that seems to hold us captive. The key is total confession. In Nehemiah 9 the people of God are moved to confess together. In fact, we learn that they spent hours in confession & worship. The interesting thing is that their confession doesn't start with them; it starts with God. Before they declare what is true about themselves, they declare what is true about God. He is powerful, majestic, holy, just, but also abounding in love & slow to anger. He is holy & just & simultaneously gracious & merciful.

It's these important truths about God's character & nature that moves them to also tell the truth about themselves. They are not holy. In fact, they are incredibly rebellious. God established a covenant of love with them, & He has always acted faithfully toward them, yet all the while they have been rebellious toward Him. But instead of being locked up in their guilt & shame, they are moved to not only confess their unfaithfulness to God, they are also moved to begin to change. In fact, in Chapter 10 they renew their commitment to the covenant God established with them by identifying 3 areas where they had consistently been unfaithful. By walking in faith to God they can be changed, transformed. I believe there's an important principle that we often overlook in our relationship with God.

"Confession That Starts With What's True About God

  Has The Power To Transform What's True About Us."

These people were moved not simply by their guilt. They were moved by God's faithfulness to them in spite of their guilt. Understanding that God is not just a holy & just God but also a compassionate & gracious God moves them to acknowledge the truth about themselves & be set free from that guilt & shame. Perhaps we need to spend more time reflecting on the character & nature of God than we do on our own shortcomings. Believe me, if you really spend some time in sincere reflection on God's character, you'll recognize yours too! You'll see the gap between God's holiness & your sin, His faithfulness & your unfaithfulness. However, you'll also be moved to run toward Him, not away from Him because you also know that He is slow to anger & abounding in love. That truth will move you to confess so that you can find freedom from your guilt & shame, & as you experience His faithfulness, you'll want to grow, to change, to be transformed.