Step 5 - Confess

We confess to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our sins.

Foundation 5

“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another; and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:7-9)

Key Theme

By faith, confess sins and receive God’s grace and healing.

Remember

When you confess, you agree with God about your rebellion, realize your need for God’s mercy, and receive God’s grace through Christ.

Things to Remember

• Confession means to agree with God. This week is really about accepting your need for God’s grace, Christ as your means of grace, and stepping into the light of God to embrace his grace – this is a profession of the gospel.
• Many participants have inventoried things they swore to never tell, even incriminating things.
• Confession may be the first time for someone to truly face fears of rejection and to trust God with the consequences of sin.

Key Questions

• Start with questions on Day 6, particularly Question 3: How has pride hindered you from being honest and open about sin? And Question 4: What concerns do you have about confessing your sin to God, yourself, and someone you trust?
• Day 3, Q3: How has your love of sin kept you from honesty with yourself?
• Day 5 Questions: Focus on accepting God’s judgments as true and just; and accepting God’s forgiveness as your own versus “forgiving yourself.”

Encouragement for Participants

• God is for you. Romans 8:31, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”
• You can trust God through any circumstance. There are consequences to sin. God doesn’t always remove those consequences, but he will see you through them. Embrace his path of freedom even when it’s difficult.
• Reject pride, embrace humility. Don’t let pride or fear get in the way of embracing God’s grace and his path for healing. Live in the light and agree with God about your sin, your need for grace, and how God’s provision for your sin cleanses you. Embrace God’s grace.
• Set up a time to meet and share your inventory with others. Along with your mentor, you may wish to include recovery partners or members of your community group. See Take Note on Day 5 as a guideline and talk with your mentor/leader if you have questions about whom you should include.

Encouragement for the Leaders

• Pray for the participants to look to Jesus for the courage and humility needed to confess. Look to the Spirit of God to lead and open the participants’ hearts - not you.
• Check on those who are having trouble finishing inventory. See if they are following through on their own deadlines.
• Be ready to share a story of how a confession brought healing in your own life.
• Group Guideline change: Share that the guidelines are now shifting to allow some time at the end of the group for participants to encourage each other with scripture.
  • During the last 5 minutes of the group time, include time for participants to encourage one other with scripture. This can be sharing a scripture of encouragement to the entire group or to a person in the group.
    • Ephesians 5:18-20, “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father…”
    • Colossians 3:16, “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
  • If an individual has a specific encouragement from scripture for another person in the group, let them ask the person a question to better understand first and pray about what to share with this person. Sometimes we can do more harm than good by giving a scripture without understanding one’s situation, heart or journey with God. Ask the group to offer encouragement or scripture to an individual only after they have taken time to understand. To gain understanding, include asking another question at the end of the group or after the group time.
    • Proverbs 18:30, “If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame.”
    • Proverbs 25:11, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.”
    • Proverbs 25:5, “The purpose in a man’s heart is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out.”
    • Proverbs 29:20, “Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.”