I’m not perfect! There I’ve said it, but it doesn’t really make me feel much better! While there are a lot of things to like about me, there are some things that I don’t like about me! The Bible teaches in James 5:16 that we are to “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”. So here my confession:

Sometimes I am wrong! When I decide to take a stand, then I am almost always right, but I am often wrong in how I take the stand. I don’t mean to be, I just am. I need to learn to be right and express it in right ways, so that my wrongness does not cause unnecessary hurt!

Sometimes I am rude! I don’t mean to be! It’s just that I am sometimes so focused on what I am doing and where I am heading, that I miss the opportunity to be sensitive to the needs and feelings of those around me! I need to be sensitive all the time, not just some of the time!

Sometimes I am defensive! I feel like some people are out to get me and I am the only one willing to defend myself! This causes me to say, do and think things that shouldn’t! I need to keep my focus on my service to my Creator and if He is pleased find my satisfaction in that and not the ego boosting or busting opinions of others!

Sometimes I am impatient! I know what needs to be done, I know how to do it and I don’t have time for excuses! This impatience is often what leads to my being defensive, rude and wrong! I need to learn to slow down, trust that God is in control and know that I am not!

Sometimes I am negative! I don’t want to be! In fact, I can’t stand to be around negative people, but the truth is that this world is full of them. We are surrounded by negativity and it can creep into your life without you ever being aware of! I need to be positive all of the time, not just most of the time!

Sometimes I am hurtful! I would never intentionally hurt someone, but I have discovered that I unintentionally hurt people and often don’t even realize it! I say or do things that are perceived by others in a negative way and it hurts. I need to think about my actions and reactions and how they might be perceived by others and do all that I can to help things to be perceived correctly!

Sometimes I am forgetful! I usually have a pretty good memory, but sometimes the mind and life get a little too cluttered and I forget things that are important to others. I end up not saying or doing something that I should! I need to get rid of the things that don’t matter and work to stay focused on the things that do and that is the relationships of friendships that make the world go around!

I am a pretty messed up guy! I would be depressed, but I know that God loves me and I trust that He has forgiven me and so I will work hard to make progress in these seven areas of my life! And by the way the James passage tells me to confess and the people who I confess to are supposed to pray so that I may be healed! Your job is not judgement, your job is prayer!

Share your confessions with me and I’ll make you this promise: I won’t judge, I’ll pray and together we will experience God’s healing!