READ: PSALM 32; ROMANS 3:23-26; EPHESIANS 5:8-14

How do you fix a typo? Will ignoring it fix the problem? Of course not! Then they’d never get corrected. But when we take the necessary steps, they are quickly fixed. That’s kind of like confessing our sins. Ignoring sin, like ignoring typos, doesn’t fix the problem. Only Jesus can fix the problem. Sin is a much bigger deal than typos, but through His death and resurrection, Jesus made the way for us to come to Him and receive forgiveness for all our sins. So when we sin, we can confess it to God, knowing that Jesus has already paid the price for our forgiveness. And then, Jesus helps us move past our sin. He walks forward with us toward holiness and wholeness.

In addition to confessing our sin to God, we may need to confess to the person we wronged and do what we can to make things right. This can be awkward or downright painful, but the Holy Spirit will guide us through the whole process and help bring healing to what has been hurt.

We find a potent example of this in 2 Samuel 11-12, when David tried to ignore—and even hide—his sin. After using his position as king to have Bathsheba taken to his palace and have sex with her, David had her husband Uriah killed so no one would know that David was the father of Bathsheba’s baby. But God knew. God sent the prophet Nathan to confront David about these terrible acts, and then David finally confessed his sin. In his repentance, he wept. There were still grave consequences for the evil he had done, yet David experienced God’s wondrous forgiveness. He even went on to teach others to repent so they too could experience forgiveness.

Are you ignoring a sin in your life? Don’t hold on to it. Instead, confess it to God. Jesus died and rose again to save you from sin, and God will forgive you so you can put sin behind you and do what’s right instead. You may need to apologize to someone else too. Why not do that right away? Admitting what we’ve done can be hard, but, as David writes in Psalm 32, there is a peace and a freedom that comes from bringing our sins out of the darkness and into the light. • A. W. Smith

• We all sin many times a day, and while it’s impossible to confess every single sin, we are called to confess the sins we are aware of (Psalm 19:12). What sins are weighing on your heart right now? Consider taking some time to pray and confess these to Jesus, resting in His grace and forgiveness and trusting Him to guide you forward to walk in His good ways.

But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. 1 John 1:9 (NLT)