Is confession a big deal?

For the past several weeks we have been talking about sin, where it comes from and what it looks like in our lives. I wonder if we could spend some time now talking about what it really takes to be free from sin, how we can move out from being so weighed down by sin.

Sin is very heavy. When he was carrying sin, David said his "bones wasted away," his "strength was sapped" and God's "hand was heavy" upon him (Psalm 32:1-4). No one really wants to live this way. In fact, I believe that the longer one persists in some sinful pattern the only way they can survive is to become calloused to it. But even then there is a heaviness because one cannot survive like that forever. So how do you become free?

The first step is confession and this step cannot be avoided or sidestepped.

Greg Ogden writes:

When we measure our lives against God's moral perfection, we begin to see how contaminated our hearts are. In Greek, confess means "to agree with." In confessing to God we are agreeing with God about what he sees. By making confession a regular part of our conversation with the Lord we are giving him permission to show us our lives through his eyes.

Two important biblical references are:

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. – 1 John 1:9

Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. – James 5:16

It all begins with confession, making clear to God and others what the truth is about ourselves and seeing ourselves through his eyes. That confession leads to repentance, forgiveness and real transformation and victory. But it all starts with confession.

So here is a question for us to think about: Is confession just something between me and God or should there be a time for confession between me and another person? How do I know when its right to confess to another person and when its just something that can stay between me and God? What do you think?