Confess and be healed

This past weekend a few of the guys in my youth group went on a camping trip to Camp Highlands in North Georgia. It was really good. For me it was the second weekend in a row that I had just gone away from everything and let loose. However, this trip in particular was special. Our worship leader did a three part lesson on Manning Up. The second lesson that we had dealt with dealing with our sin. Our speaker threw it right out on the table from the start. Most of us have been taught the same misunderstood truth. We have been trying to get out of our sin through prayer, or reading the Bible, or just asking God for strength. While all of these things are good for growth, they really have nothing to do with getting rid of your sin.

Wow! I was blown away. For a split second my heart sank. I truly thought to myself, "here's this guy who means well but truly doesn't know what he's talking about. " But what he said next to me to an entirely new level in my walk. Are you ready for this.

The way you get rid of sin is to confess it.

That seemed to me to be an Uh oh! Oreo! moment. What I mean by that is I should have known that. In fact as I looked around the camp fire at the young men around me I noticed that we were all being hit with the same sinking feeling at the same time. We knew that this was true, but somewhere along the line it had slipped out of the equation. Our speaker went on to say that you not only need to confess to God, but in many cases you need to confess to other believers in order to gain encouragement. There is supposed to be a sense of camaraderie between believers that is shared so that we build each other up.

By the end of the trip, we as a group had decided to encourage each other to grow and cut the sarcasm out of our comment, and I was preparing a version of this lesson that i could deliver to our Awana's TNT group that night. I want to close by giving you three sets of verses that I hope will serve to encourage you in this area of confession.

For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. Romans 10:10

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

When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long. Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone. Psalms 32:3-5