myRECOVERYspace
Please explore our sister site:
myRECOVERYspace
Members seek freedom from
Alcoholism
Anorexia & Bulimia
Codependency
Gambling
Marijuana
Narcotics
Prescription Drugs
Overeating
Overspending
Pornography
Self-Injury
Sexual Promiscuity
Tobacco & Nicotine
myRECOVERYspace is social networking for recovery,
like a myspace for recovery of sorts
(myspace is a trademark of myspace.com)
|
Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs
|
|
Psalms 32:3-7
|
| 32:3 |
When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.
|
| 32:4 |
For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.
|
| 32:5 |
I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my
transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.
|
| 32:6 |
For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely
in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.
|
| 32:7 |
Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of
deliverance. Selah.
|
12Step.org Comments:
|
|
This is a powerful passage that speaks about the cleansing power of confession to God. David writes in the
Psalms that when he kept silence his bones grew old, but when he confessed his sins the Lord forgave his
iniquity. David then calls the Lord his hiding place. This is the truth we often find in our confession.
When we try to hide our addictive behaviors then it happens so often that our sins become known to others
and we find shame and disgrace. But when we confess our sins to God, then in His grace we find a place of
hiding, a place of safety from our shame and guilt. We can begin to sing songs of deliverance.
|
|
Proverbs 28:13 (NKJV)
|
| 28:13 |
He who covers his sins will not prosper,
But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.
|
12Step.org Comments:
|
|
A very simple and straightforward proverb that shows the value of bringing our sins out into the open. It is through confession and forsaking our sins that we find mercy and grace in the eyes of God and other men and women. To continue covering them only creates deceit in our souls and in our relationship with others, including God.
|
|
Matthew 3:5-6
|
| 3:5 |
Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan,
|
| 3:6 |
And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.
|
12Step.org Comments:
|
|
Here we see the response to the preaching of John the Baptist and his calls for repentance. This was before Jesus
had been introduced as the Messiah, the Chosen One. Nevertheless, we still find that people instinctively confessed
their sins as they went through the process of baptism, repentance and cleansing. The truth circulated in 12 step
circles that "we are as sick as our secrets" must have been written on the human heart for a long, long time.
For here, approximately 2000 years ago, when people sought wholeness and healing, then confession was a part
of that process.
|
|
Acts 19:18-20
|
| 19:18 |
And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds.
|
| 19:19 |
Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted
the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.
|
| 19:20 |
So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.
|
12Step.org Comments:
|
|
This passage comes from the time when the apostle Paul was in Ephesus. After many demonstartions of the power of the Gospel,
many began to believe in the Lord and confessed their deeds. Confession again seems to be part of the act of true repentance.
Reflective of that time and place, there was also apparently quite a bit of magic being practiced, which often goes along
with idolatry. Part of their repentance in this case was to burn the books that they had used for magic. In a parallel
for our lives, we need to get rid of our sources of temptation as far as is possible (given the constraints of our
living a godly life) so that they will no longer be a source of idolatry for us. In this way, the word of God can
also prevail in our lives and give us the true freedom that is found in Christ.
|
|
James 5:16
|
| 5:16 |
Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of
a righteous man availeth much.
|
12Step.org Comments:
|
|
James tells us that we should confess our faults to each other, and in so doing we may find healing. This is a powerful
means that God has given us to find healing through an honest, trusting fellowship with each other, and finding
healing through confession.
|
|
1 John 1:9
|
| 1:9 |
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
|
12Step.org Comments:
|
|
Here we have the principle of confession put in a very clear and straightforward way. We are to confess our sins,
and God will be faithful to forgive our sins. To whom do we confess our sins? This verse does not say explicitly,
but we can surmise that it is at least to the Lord, since He is the one doing the cleansing because of this.
This does not preclude confession to others, either. As we see from the passage in James 5:16, confession
is also pleasing when we confess to one another.
|
|
|
