Nothing changes without this …

Nothing changes without confession.

Nothing changes until we can finally say, “I’m guilty,” “I’m wrong,”

The Prussian king Frederick the Great was once on a tour of a Berlin prison. The prisoners fell on their knees in front of him as a means of proclaiming their innocence — all except one man who remained upright and silent.

The king inquired of the man, “Why are you here?”

“Armed robbery, you majesty,” the inmate responded.

“And are you guilty?” queried the king.

“Yes indeed, your majesty, I deserve my punishment,” the criminal replied without hesitation.

At that, Frederick summoned the jailer and said of the confessor, “Release this guilty wretch at once. I will not have him kept in this prison where he will corrupt all the fine innocent people who occupy it.”

There was another criminal whose confession changed everything for him. He was the thief who was crucified next to Jesus Christ …

“One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, ‘So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself — and us, too, while you’re at it!’ But the other criminal protested, ‘Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.’ Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.’ And Jesus replied, ‘I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise,'” Luke 23:39-43.

Nothing changes without confession.

Is there something in your life you have not been willing to confess that keeps real change from your life? How could confessing your sins change your relationship with God and others?

Scotty