Confession: Don’t Leave Life Without It!

Confession: Don’t Leave Life Without It! I once worked for a boss who considered himself a successful leader. He believed the two most important rules of leadership were: never admit you are wrong, and never say you are sorry. He said he had learned these rules as an officer in the military. When I reminded him of James Kelly’s famous saying, “Confession is good for the soul,” his response was, “Confession may be good for the soul, but it’s lousy for leadership.” To him, admitting you are wrong, confessing your sins and asking for forgiveness were all signs of weakness – something leaders never show. Not surprisingly, his contract as a CEO was not renewed. Why? Because he failed to take responsibility for his actions. My former boss never agreed with me that there was any good in confessing wrongdoing; every parent and law enforcement officer will tell you there is. Where there is confession of failure there is also the opportunity to turn a relationship around; every divorce counselor will tell you this. Confession is much less expensive than a trial to prove guilt; every judge will tell you this. Where there is confession of guilt, there is also a likelihood of reduced punishment; every lawyer will tell you this. And do you know that all these statements about confession also apply to the spiritual realm. In 1654, Edward Gayton wrote, “Confession is the first step to repentance.” To that someone later added, “It is the most important step, because confession makes repentance real.” Where God is concerned, real repentance always leads to forgiveness. What a blessing! My boss lost his job because he did not pay attention to what the apostle John wrote: “If we say we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves ... But if we confess our sins to Him, He can be depended on to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong” (1 Jn. 1:8-9 NLT). A lost job is nothing compared to what we lose if we leave this life clinging to wrong ideas about confession. Reading this month’s features will help you avoid that. By Larry Ondrejack