The Healing Power of Confession

Current Teaching Series The Daniel Plan: God's Prescription for a Healthy Life

The Healing Power of Confession By Rick Warren — Jun 10, 2017 “Before I confessed my sins, my bones felt limp, and I groaned all day long” (Psalm 32:3 CEV). It’s not just swallowing too much food that’ll torpedo your health. Swallowing your sin can have even more disastrous results. One of the healthiest choices you can make is to receive the forgiveness of God. Many people are carrying around a stinky garbage sack of sin. Carrying around that sack won’t just make you ineffective for serving Jesus; it’ll ruin your health, too. The Bible teaches in Psalm 32:3-5, “Before I confessed my sins, my bones felt limp, and I groaned all day long. Night and day your hand weighed heavily on me, and my strength was gone as in the summer heat. So I confessed my sins and told them all to you. I said, ‘I’ll tell the Lord each one of my sins.’ Then you forgave me and took away my guilt” (CEV). In fact, an October 2013 study by scientists at Princeton University and the University of Waterloo scientifically verified what King David said centuries earlier: The feelings we can have of being physically “weighed down” by guilt are real. God has given us a foolproof method for relief from those soul and body-destroying feelings of guilt: repentance. How do you repent? Make a moral inventory. Psalm 138:23-24 says, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test my thoughts. Point out anything you find in me that makes you sad, and lead me along the path of everlasting life” (TLB). In other words, you start by grabbing a pencil and paper and asking God to bring to mind your sin. Take your time. Don’t rush it. Be specific. Write them down, knowing you will be the only one to see this list. You can tear it up after you’ve finished this exercise. Accept the blame. The greatest holdup to healing is you. Don’t rationalize your sin. Don’t minimize it. You may not be 100 percent to blame, but accept the part that’s yours. Ask for forgiveness. Believe that God will forgive you. Ask him to forgive you based on what he promises in the Bible (1 John 1:9). Don’t beg. Don’t bargain. Just believe that God will forgive you. Don’t put yourself at risk of spiritual heart disease. God wants to use you. Come clean about your sin. Get a fresh start. Then see what God can do through you. PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >> Talk It Over Make a list of sins you’ve never confessed to God. Accept the blame for your failures, and ask the Lord for forgiveness for each sin on your list. What keeps you from confessing your sins to God? Are there some sins you struggle with confessing more than others? Why?

Our Gift: The Daniel Plan Book Discover the essential ingredients to a better, healthier life! A healthy lifestyle doesn’t just involve one or two areas of your life. It takes a more holistic approach – in your faith, food, fitness, focus, and friends. Pastor Rick gives you key steps for winning in each of these areas in his book, The Daniel Plan: 40 Days to a Healthier Life. This simple, easy-to-follow resource includes a 40-day fitness challenge and meal plan to help you… • Incorporate the essentials of faith, food, fitness, focus, and friends into your daily lifestyle • Better understand the importance of relying on God’s power instead of your willpower • Realize that trusting God is just as vital to your physical health as eating and sleeping • Recognize the benefits of renewing your mind and becoming “Daniel Strong” LEARN MORE

Complete Audio Series (Purchase) Includes nine full length teaching CD's from Pastor Rick's series The Daniel Plan: God's Prescription for a Healthy Life. LEARN MORE

Series Summary Session 1: Why We Need Each Other Session 2: Getting Your Ship Out of the Harbor Session 3: Setting Goals In Faith Session 4: God's Prescription for Health Session 5: Winning With the Hand You're Dealt Session 6: The Awesome Power of Focus Session 7: The Awesome Power of Faith PLAY TODAY'S BROADCAST

Pastor Rick Warren

Enjoy today's Devotional? Listen instantly to the full radio message at Daily Hope Radio. Did someone forward this devotional to you? Subscribe to Pastor Rick Warren's Daily Devotional. This devotional is based on the current Daily Hope radio series at pastorrick.com. Rick Warren has helped people live with hope and on purpose for more than 40 years. He’s the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Southern California and author of several books, including "The Purpose Driven Church" and "The Purpose Driven Life," read by more than 100 million people in 137 languages. He created the PEACE Plan (plant churches of reconciliation, equip servant leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, educate the next generation), which is used by churches in 196 countries. His radio teaching and daily devotional, Daily Hope, is offered around the world. This devotional © 2017 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission. You can unsubscribe at any time by changing your e-mail preferences. Update your preferences  |  Unsubscribe