In recent years sin has become a unpopular term. Mind you, sin is still going on, it’s just that many people don’t want to call sin sin. It’s all just personal preference. But with that attitude sin isn’t dealt with. Confession and forgiveness are the tools God gives us to remove the disease of sin. There are an assortment of ways confession can be done. If we do something that harms another person, we can confess to them what we have done, ask for forgiveness and try to make amends. That’s one of the ways we fix broken relationships. There is also the general confession that we frequently use on Sundays. The problem with general confessions are that they are so general they don’t always get at what is troubling us.
 

There is also private confession to a pastor, which is taught by Martin Luther in the Small Catechism. The order for individual confession is on p. 243 of Evangelical Lutheran Worship. And then there is our confession to God in personal prayer. We bring before God anything and everything that we have done or left undone. The one drawback to this confession in prayer is that we don’t hear the words of forgiveness.  It’s important, then, when using this form of confession to remind ourselves of God’s forgiveness. I’d suggest reading the words of 1 John 1:9 before beginning a prayer of confession: “If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 

Read 1 John 1:1-9, and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally. 

Wayne

Today’s Reading: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=I+John+1%3A1-9&version=NRSV