Is there any sin that you need to confess? Too often, we hold on to wayward desires, mulling them over in what we believe to be a safe place in our minds. All the while, we die a little inside. However, confession restores us.

“Confess” means “to agree with God,” from His perspective, that our sins are real. It restores us vertically with God and horizontally with others. It’s a living picture of the cross.

First, we must confess our sins vertically to God. The apostle John revealed: “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). When we confess our sins vertically to the Restorer, he forgives us and restores us.

Second, we must confess our sins horizontally to someone we trust. James taught: “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective” (James 5:16). Did you catch that? Horizontal confession heals.

Vertical confession leads to communion: intimacy with God. Horizontal confession leads to community: intimacy with others in Christ. Each represents relationship. Confession helps us to live in the sweet spot where our vertical relationship with God intersects with our horizontal relationships with others. The result is a living picture of the cross.

Confess to God what you have been holding back from him. Find a confidant with whom you can share that same sin. You will find restoration.

Episode 101: Freedom from Sexual Addiction with Mellissa Depew from mitchkrusetv on Vimeo.

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