LESSON 12: CONFESS

Really should show “God’s Chisel” before this lesson.

OK: Just finished our Spiritual Inventories where you took account of how you may have mistreated your mind, body, family, church, etc. The POINT of the Spiritual Inventory is to once & for all time - take account of the things that are wrong in you – with you – for you. BUT also what is GOOD in your – strengths / victories.

This Lesson is Based on Principle 4 & Step 5:

a. Principle 4: “Openly examine and confess my faults to myself, to God, and to someone I trust.”

b. Step 5: “Admit to God, to myself, and to another human being the exact nature of my wrongs.”

Do you remember the story of “Jessica McClure”?

Jessica, at the time, was an18 month old girl / Texas / fell into abandoned well.

400 people took part in her rescue & Took 2 ½ days to get her out

they played back tape of rescuers hearing her cries for help / anguish / frustration / pain.

The rescuers decided they needed to help her in two phases.

1. Phase 1: Get someone down there next to her – ASAP

2. Phase 2: Actually extracting her from the well

Why do you think Phase 1 was so important? – to get someone down there ASAP?

people tend to do and think strange things when they are trapped alone in a dark scary place for long periods of time.” They get “disoriented” & fears get blown out of proportion Minds play tricks on them AND, sometimes they start to do “self-destructive” things. AND, sometimes they just “give up”

sound familiar

rescuers knew they needed to get someone down there to be with her ASAP

then they could turn their attention on how they were going to get her out of the well.

The plan worked – she was saved and is now a happy healthy young woman.

SO - How does this story relate to Step 5? : “Admit to God, to yourself, and to another human being the exact nature of your wrongs.” ?

a. Well, - When you admit to God, yourself & Another - your wrongs - you are basically admitting that :

you are “Out Of Control”

that you need help w/ your problems

that you can’t live your life the way you used to live it

that your old ways just don’t work anymore.

You realize that the issue you are struggling with (HHH) is really being DRIVEN by a whole set of “Character Defects”.

SO What do you do? Well, God wants to “Chisel Away” at those character defects.

He wants to Free you of the bondage of those defects in your life.

Good news is : “You’ve already started letting Him / by:

1. Admitting your problems / sins

2. Making an “Inventory” of the problems / sins

a. Literally LISTING them, Admitting them, OWNING them – Letting God “CHISEL” THEM OUT OF YOU.

b. Basically – taking responsibility for the “Big 7 Deadly Sins”

Can you list them?

Pride – anger – envy – lust – greed – gluttony – slothfulness

you might be feeling like you are trapped at bottom of a big dark well.

Like Jessica, you can get disoriented – frightened, discouraged.

Our mind can play tricks on us and make us start to believe

a. “I am royally messed up and I don’t think anything can straighten me out” b. OR “If anyone ever found out what is really going on in my head, they wouldn’t have anything to do with me.” c. OR “ This is too hard to stay committed to this program. I am just going to go back to pretending that everything is OK, and just let time work all this out.”

. IT’S AT These moments that we need to get another human being to come alongside of us as soon as possible.

AS God is “Chiseling Away” at your HHH & the surrounding “junk” – you need to get someone along side of you so you do NOT slip back into denial

the acrostic: CONFESS

OK, Let’s get started:

C in confess is “CONFESS” OR “Come Clean”

God wants us to come clean and admit that wrong is wrong, that we are guilty as charged.

We need to “own up” or God can’t begin to Chisel away at these issues.

b. Once “confessed”: Shame is OVER & Truth (& it’s healing power) take over

Proverbs 28:13 says: “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”

Confession is necessary for fellowship w/God. Sin creates a barrier before God, but Confession removes that barrier & restores fellowship with God.

O in confess is “OBEY” God’s directions:

Basically – “Confession” means we agree w/God regarding our sins.

Romans 14:12: “…everyone will have to give an account of himself to God.”

Then James 5:16 brings it on home: “Confess your sins TO EACH OTHER and pray for each other so that you may be healed.”

N – next letter is N: Means: NO MORE GUILT !!!

You need to toss out your “Rear View Mirror” way of looking at your life.

b. There’s NO point in second guessing yourself OR others.

c. Romans 8:1 says: “There is no condemnation now for those who live in union with Christ Jesus.”

So that’s the “C,O,N” of confess. - The “con” is over NOW we need to ‘FESS” up & we will have 4 positive changes in our lives.

F – in confess stands for: “FACE the truth”

Recovery REQUIRES / DEMANDS honesty in order to be effective.

People who are not honest are NOT at ease with themselves, and they open themselves up to every arrow the enemy shoots

Dishonesty / Lying requires a perfect memory which no one has.

Honesty (speaking the truth) never has that pressure.

Even exaggeration requires a perfect memory

E – Confession eases the pain.

we are only as sick as our secrets!

When we share our deepest secrets, we begin to divide the pain from the shame.

Listen: “pain is inevitable for all of us, but Misery is optional.”

Psalm 32:3-5 says: “there was a time when I wouldn’t admit what a sinner I was. But my dishonesty made me miserable and filled my days with frustration…My strength evaporated like water on a sunny day until I finally admitted all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide them. I said to myself, I will confess them to the Lord. And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.”

S – The first S in Confess reminds us that we can now STOP the blame game.

Been said : “people who can smile when something goes wrong probably just thought of somebody they can blame it on.”

Truth: We can’t find peace if we continue to blame ourselves OR others.

Our secrets only isolate us from each other.

In Matthew 7:3 Jesus drives the point home: “…why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and fail to see the plank in your own… Take the plank out of your own eye first – only then will you be able to see clearly enough to be helpful with others.”

S – Finally, the last letter – S – stands for: START

a. Start accepting God’s forgiveness.

b. Start letting him Chisel out of you the lies and affects of sin on your life.

c. Start allowing his unconditional love to flow over you.

d. 1 st John 1:9 puts it all in perspective: “…if we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins, because we can trust God to do what is right. He will (chisel away) all the impacts of the sin and cleanse us from all the wrongs we have committed.”