Day 7 - Confession is good for body, soul and spirit
Scripture focus: Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing. Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master. Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you've sinned, you'll be forgiven—healed inside and out. Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. James 5:13-16 The Message
I love the television show "Biggest Loser." I learn a lot as I watch contestants with maladaptive coping skills, covered up by layers of extra weight that they hide behind, morph and transform into their true selves.
Can you imagine standing on a scale for all of America to watch those numbers flash up on the big screen? What courage!
More than courageous, it is also an act of confession. Confession is a tricky proposition. No one applies to the "Biggest Loser" with the thought, "They'll never accept a slightly chubby candidate like me." However, seasoned viewers like me continue to hear these candidates say, "I had no clue how heavy I had gotten" after they step on that big public scale. Although their willingness to show up is confessional, sometimes they don't realize how much they need to confess!
Aren't we the same?
When we share what we're feeling, thinking, perceiving, wanting, needing and desiring – we are confessing the state of our insides. This is great! Celebrate the ability to tell the truth about what's going on internally.
But to be the biggest winner, we'll need to mature into the kind of people who understand that what's really happening is confession, not simply a request that the world do something about our yearnings so that we feel better.
Recommended reading: Exodus 19-21
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