When I hear the word confession, I think about giving up the secret wrongs that I’ve held in my heart for too long. To me, this word brings negativity as for the longest time my confessions would come with guilt or shame. When I would bring my sins before the Father, the enemy would deceive me into an endless cycle of shame. So, I hated the idea of confession because it brought me into the false idea that God was standing in Heaven pointing his finger at me and chastising me for all of the wrongs I had just told him about. However, this perception was soon shattered when I came to the knowledge of the other meaning of confession, one that truly depicts the character of God. This confession is the invitation that God give us to join with him in his love.
The notion that God is mad at me, had plagued my mind for far too long. I would often come into the belief that my sin, whether confessed or not, would cause God to be upset with me. While he himself is perfect and strongly disapproves of sin, that doesn’t change the fact that he still has a vast and father-like love for me. I have come into the revelation of where confession originated from and it has changed my perspective on the entirety of the subject. When looking at The Heart of Christian Confession, Jeff Pool shows us that the term confession suggests “an invitation to gather or meet.” It is this invitation that extends to us the opportunity “to come together with God” and join in his love. This confession of his love for us leads “us to acknowledge our need for the grace” that flows from the heart of God himself (Pool 379). These ideas compel me to see that God intended confession to be an invitation into relationship and not an instrument of shame. As in Romans, so I am aware of in my own life that “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (5.8).
Now, I do not denounce the importance of the confession of my sins to God and to others, but rather am simply trying to proclaim that it is the result of the confession that God has made to me. Had the Lord not relentlessly showed me his awesome love, I would have had no drive to turn from my sin. However, because of his great proclamation I have come to know the truth. This truth being that God is not looking down on me in frustration but on the contrary he is inviting me deeper into his love. The perfect example of this is shown when Daniel is confessing the sins of Israel in his plea to the Lord for mercy. As he intently pours out his heart, God sends a message to him through Gabriel. This response that the Lord gives him breaks me down: “I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved” (Dan. 9.23). Here is this man, stating all the evil that this nation has done, and instead of frustration God gives him that divine confession. What a merciful and awesome God we serve.
In the past week, God has shone so much light on the topic of confession. He has uprooted the lies that the enemy had planted in my heart and brought abundant truth. I now know that there is two types of confession. The first is God’s love for us and the latter is our love back toward him. I have come to forget the deception that God points his finger and instead believe just as Hymn 394 reads “Think what Father’s smiles are thine, Think that Jesus died to win thee.” His love is so great and his mercy is so unending that I know approach him with confidence, because I know that he is a good Father. In everything that he does, God richly confesses his love for me and for the entire world.
Works Cited
“Hymn 394.” Hymns of Grace, Pew ed., The Master’s Seminary Press, 2011.
Pool, Jeff B. “The Heart of Christian Confession.” American Baptist Quarterly 24, 2005, pp. 376–390
