He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. (Proverbs 28:13, NKJV)
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9, NKJV)
Imagine what the world would be like if there was no longer any sin. Sounds like paradise, right? Unfortunately we live in a world where we will struggle against sin until we go to heaven with Jesus. Do you know what God calls a sin? If you don’t know what sin is, you will suffer from its effects and probably wonder why! The Proverbs verse above says that if you cover your sins you will not prosper, but if you confess and forsake them you will have God’s mercy.
What is sin? One dictionary defines it as “an offence against God.” So what exactly is an offence against God? There are many places throughout the Bible where God tells us what His desires are for our lives, where He instructs us on how to and how not to act. Specifically Mark 7:21-23, Romans 1:28-31, Galatians 5:19-21, Ephesians 4:25-31, and 2 Timothy 3:1-5 are passages where you will find lists of what God calls “sin”. Read through these verses and make a list of all the sins you find. Evil thoughts, lust, covetousness, adultery, lying backbiting, quarreling, anger, rebellion, selfish ambition, deception: pretty depressing reading, right? But that is not the end of the story! 1 John 1:9 above says that if you will confess your sin, God will forgive you and cleanse you from all unrighteousness.
The good news is that no matter how many sins you have, you are just one prayer away from a supernatural cure! It all comes back to one thing; Will you agree with what God calls sin? If you do not, you will look for the cause of your pain and a solution for it in the world around you. But if you will call your pain what it is – sin, you are looking at the simplest problem in the world to solve. Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay for your sins.
Take the list of all the sins you found in the above verses and ask the Lord to show you any that you are guilty of. Then confess and get cleaned up. You are just a prayer away from victory over your sin.