Friday; July 12

What do we do when we are struggling? I think that human nature is apt to try to convince us to either hide our challenges from others or crawl inside ourselves so that no one knows what is going on. While this may seem natural, it is often counter-productive. Sure, by camouflaging what has gone awry we might fly under the moral radar, it doesn’t really help us deal with the issues.

So, what if we took the opposite approach – what if we confessed our struggles? No, not just to air our dirty laundry, but to solicit assistance from the good people around us. The New Testament encourages us, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.” (James 5:16). I have to be honest with you, this passage makes me a bit uneasy. I don’t like to fail and I like for others to see my failures even less, but if all of us approached this appropriately, imagine how much good could be done. First, if we trusted people enough to tell them what’s bothering us, we wouldn’t have to keep our struggles bottled up. Secondly, if we were willing to pray for one another rather than critique each other, we could provide support to the people who need it.

It is said that confession is good for the soul. Interestingly, confession might also be good for our relationships.

Think About It!

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