Decades of ministry to people in emotional bondage from past wrongs (both to them and by them) have taught me a valuable lesson:

Experiencing God’s full forgiveness typically requires full confession.

Consider this:

Often – because of shame, pride or emotional pain – we won’t confess externally what we are hiding or avoiding internally.

Those wrongs are ours, not God’s, but we can’t give them to Him if we continue to hide or avoid them.

This is critical, because God is not a thief. He won’t take what we don’t give Him.

When we do decide to give our wrongs to Him, however, by confessing them out loud and asking Him to forgive us …

He always releases us from them and gives us wholeness in return.

Many, unfortunately, want the freedom of forgiveness …

Without the vulnerability and transparency of confession.

But God, in his infinite wisdom, wants both.