Confession

When is the last time you spent time in confession? Not the confessional booth, actually sitting in prayer and searching your heart and mind for sin to confess and ask forgiveness for? When is the last time you heard a sermon on the value of confession? Not confessing one's faith or asking for forgiveness, but genuinely laying one's life open before God and other? You too? I wonder why we have lost the value and beauty of confession. Is it overconfident in our salvation? Arrogance? Business? Discomfort? Sin? Maybe we've been lead to believe that confession is what we do before conversion... after that we are made perfect,... right?
We got talking about the idea of confession in our couples group last night. As I began to present and explain a number of passages on confession I was reminded of how valuable it really is. When I am in the habit of confessing I pray more, trust God more, love my wife more, have more patience with my kids, and the list goes on. I'm not convinced that these results are anything profoundly spiritual - simply the natural result of living in the light. Living in the light ads accountability to my life. Vulnerability ads understanding, compassion, humility and a genuineness that strengthens ties and relationships. On the spiritual side, that which is confessed loses it's power over us. It is confession that cleanses us from a guilty conscience. It removes the self-imposed barriers between me and God. It places me in good standing with God and allows me to see His blessings and will more clearly.
So why don't we confess more often? It's not because we lack things to confess. What are we afraid of? Maybe the solution to shedding that Christian hypocrite label is not by trying harder but by confessing more.
At any rate, I tossed and turned a bunch last night thinking about what my life would look like if I could shed my pride and fear and live into the fullness of life that God has in mind for me through the gift of confession. It's still a bit uncomfortable.