30 April, 2009

The Vomit of the Soul: Christian Confession

Confession is when we confide in a fellow Christian and we share the struggles that have been hindering a greater fellowship with Christ and the Church.

One Puritan said, “Confession is an act of mortification, it is as it were the vomit of the soul; It breeds a dislike of the sweetest morsels when are they are cast up in loathesome ejections. Sin is sweet in commission but bitter in the remembrance. God's children find that their hatred is never more keen and exasperated against sin than in confessing.” (Thomas Manton, 457).

What a vivid description for confession. The vomit of the soul- it is all of the stuff that sin has produced within us and as we confess that to our fellow Christians- we find that we are feeling better and our relationship with Christ is better. As we confess our sins to a confidential and compassionate brother or sister- we are more equipped to hate sin and to fight against sin.

One of Satan's greatest tactics in spiritual warfare is convincing Christians that nobody in all the world shares the same struggles with you. There is this lie that is told that you are in your sin alone and that if you shared it you would be so out of touch with the struggles of everyone else, that it is better to never share it.

This is untrue, of course. Christians struggle with a whole host of sins, and we are called to bring them confidentially and compassionately to a trusted brother, friend, or counselor.

Confess to one another.

No comments: