A snitch is someone who freely gives up information about a friend or acquaintance. Because he volunteers information that often gets people arrested, evicted, or even killed, a snitch is considered one of the lowest people on the neighborhood food chain. People have a hard time forgiving a snitch.
John encouraged believers to snitch on themselves. For when they did, God would forgive them. The apostle wrote a small but powerful letter to a group of believers who were being harassed by several groups of false teachers (1 John). One of the groups was saying they had fellowship with God and did not sin. John refuted this errant theology by invoking the holy and perfect nature of God—God is light. If they said they had fellowship with God, who is light, and yet continued to walk in darkness, John said they were liars and were deceiving themselves.
For fear that the young believers were being influenced by false teachers, John encouraged them to confess their sins—snitch on themselves—and God would meet their genuine confession with divine forgiveness (1 John 1:9). He would forgive them and cleanse them from all unrighteousness. John states very clearly that persistent, unconfessed, and unrepented sin is a mark of someone who does not genuinely know God.
One of the indicators that we have true fellowship with God is that we consistently confess our sins to Him. According to Solomon, true piety and fear of God involves acknowledging that our sin is against a holy God—confessing it and forsaking it, rather than concealing it and hardening one’s heart. Confessing and forsaking our sins to God leads to receiving His mercy (Proverbs 28:13).
That’s well worth snitching on ourselves!
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: Matthew 6:1-18
More:
Read Psalm 32:1-5 and Psalm 51 to see how David dealt with his sin before God.
Next:
Do you practice the spiritual habit of confession? Based on the two passages in more>, what are some important aspects of confession or godly snitching? What are some immediate results of confession?
daisymarygoldr on July 1, 2011 at 1:48 am
Confessing and forsaking our sins is the key to living a victorious Christian life. From my own life experience, I have learned it is wise to admit I am wrong and come clean before God. Trying to conceal my sin often makes the matter worse. Sin is like poop. Everyone around us can smell the stench of our sins. I know this sounds gross but you know what it is like to be around a baby with a dirty diaper. David knew unconfessed sins stink (Psalm 38: 5, 18).
Moreover, none of us sits and analyzes our human excreta. We simply clean ourselves and move on with our other activities. Similarly, there is no point trying to figure out a psychological reason for our sinful behavior. Sometimes I tend to get very creative in rationalizing my sin. “He made me do it”, “I was provoked”, or better still I blame it on my hormones or plain ignorance. While there may be some truth in all of these excuses, the fact remains I should have known better.
We already know the human heart is deceitful above all and out of it comes evil thoughts and every other wicked thing. Sin is the fruit or product of our sinful nature. If we do not confess and forsake our sins regularly, they will accumulate to become a heavy burden that leads to depression. The guilt will make us to hide from God and avoid the fellowship of other believers. As a result we stop going to church to become lonely, miserable and defeated Christians.
It is best therefore, to humbly approach God, admit our sins and allow Him to clean our dirty hearts and make us spotless and pure. In confessing, we are agreeing God is right. Snitching on ourselves leads to forgiveness and a restored communion with God and others. Thanks marvin williams for teaching us this important principle of Christian living!
winn collier on July 1, 2011 at 3:47 pm
The weekly time of communal confession each Sunday has become a moment I treasure. And I love the simple confession line: Lord, help me, for I have sinned.
conmeo on July 1, 2011 at 10:33 pm
God does cleanse us. Thank you ODJ