Jesus is glad when I acknowledge the truth: I sin. I can feel the heart of Jesus being pleased when I own the wrong that I do. I find this ownership of sin the entrance point to experiencing and tasting His mercy and grace. 1 John 1:8 preaches: “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” So, confession of sin is one of the signs that the Spirit of God is with us, that we love Christ, and that the truth of God is the foundation of our thought.

What about you? Do you find confession of sin difficult? My tendency is to be self-righteous, to show God the good that I have done, rather than the wrong that I have done. But I find the frequent passages in Scripture to search ourselves and to ask God to search us instructive. That is a renewal prayer for my spirit: “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24). Self-righteousness is, thankfully, a stain that the blood of Christ can remove. And, He is drawing me closer through my on-going acknowledgments that I sin, again and again. I find myself abiding in this place of neediness before Him—and it is a blessing to me.

You see, when I notice that self-righteousness rise in my heart, I search myself for the truth. I find within me that I have made correct confession to God. “I sin.” I start there with Jesus once again. And, that confession is freedom because the truth sets us free. Jesus is kind to remind me that the journey to admission of my sinfulness is the journey to freedom.