He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
Proverbs 28:13

Problems. Nobody is immune from committing sins. However, often the problems we see are not the problems that are! For instance, a problem, whether it is emotional, spiritual or physical, is often the symptom of a deeper problem; that is, "the fruit of a deeper root." The root cause may be an unresolved emotional, spiritual or moral problem which can express itself in any one of a number of ways such as the following: relational conflicts, worry, stress, anxiety, insomnia, depression, addictions, spiritual dryness, physical sickness, abuse, etc., etc.

Many physical symptoms can be symbolic. For example, ulcers may be caused not so much by what we eat but by what is eating us. Tension headaches can be caused by "jamming up" anger in our head. Aching shoulders may be caused by our feeling that we are burdened by a heavy load. And if I have a pain in the neck, I may....

Confession opens the door for recovery: not only from the symptoms but also from the causes.

After David confessed his sin, he said, "Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight! Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty! When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long. Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, 'I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.' And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone."

A good example to follow.


Suggested prayer:

"Dear God, here's the symptom/s (be specific _____________ name it/them) in my life. I acknowledge these to you. Please give me the courage to face the cause/s of these and lead me to the help I need to resolve them. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."

An amen from this corner too!

A great big Amen from here too, brother! Amen!

It's very true. You know, when we think about this, remember what Fruit is. It's part of a tree that we can see. A part that is above ground. However . . . if you don't want any more of that Fruit, do you pluck off that fruit and expect no more from the tree? Do you take all it's fruit off and think it's over?

Won't happen . . . until you get to the actual ROOTS that feed that tree that produces the fruit. You can keep "dealing" with the "fruit" all you want, but until you deal with the "roots" that are sustaining it all . . . it won't really go away. If you're quick enough you can make sure the fruit is gone before it fully grows, and the tree will look bare and all . . . but you'll truly wear yourself out, and you still have the tree.