The Power of Confession for the Healing of a Nation

​“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” 1 John 1:8 NIV
 
There is healing in confession. There is healing at the cross. In a society where wrong is right and right is wrong, we’ve lost the power of confession. We’ve lost the gift of self-awareness and the acknowledgment that we are all “sinners saved by grace” in need of a Savior...

Guilt is ignored. The conviction of the Holy Spirit remains unheeded as our sins and faults are blamed on others. Unacknowledged and unremitted, the weight of sin becomes unbearable. 
 
No wonder panic, anxiety and depression afflict our society. If we deny the fact that sin abides in us, we lose the potential for the healing of our sin-sick souls. We forego forgiveness and cleansing for self-righteousness and self-justification.
 
“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” James 5:16 
 
If we say we are without sin we deceive ourselves.
 
But if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9). The filthy rags of our self-proclaimed righteousness are exchanged for white robes of truth, washed in the blood of the Lamb.
 
Fear no longer has its hooks in our souls. Death releases its grip. Our minds are free to breathe and hope and dream, no longer gripped by the dark sense of guilt that sin produces.
 
Confessed and admitted, the weight lifts off. Depression leaves, guilt goes, healing comes.
 
May we regain the awareness of sin in our lives. May we regard the Holy Spirit’s prompting with a new seriousness. May we confess our sins to one another – and may our nation be healed. 
 
“For all have sinned, all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet now God in his gracious kindness declares us not guilty.” Romans 3:23-24
 
 
Photo by Laura Woodworth - Los Angeles at Dusk