Rick Warren: For Good Health, Confess Your Sin

“When I refused to confess my sin, I was weak and miserable, and I groaned all day long.” (Psalm 32:3 NLT)

Yesterday we looked at the importance of trusting God and letting go of resentment, worry, and fear to maintain good health. This leads right into a second biblical factor for good health.

Confessing my sin is good for my health. Any psychologist will tell you this: It’s good to clear your conscience and get things off your chest. Your body is not made to hold it in. When you hold guilt inside you, it’s like shaking up a soda can with the top on. It will blow eventually.

David says it this way in Psalm 32:3-5: “When I refused to confess my sin, I was weak and miserable, and I groaned all day long .… My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. Finally I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide them .… And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone” (NLT).

David internalized his guilt, and it physically affected his body. If you don’t talk out your problems, your guilt, your bitterness with God, you’re going to take it out on your body.

It reminds me of an old episode of the television show “Columbo,” when the comedian Johnny Carson played the bad guy. When he finally got caught, he said, “You know, I’m really glad I got caught, because the guilt was killing me.”

Doctors say a lot of people could leave the hospital today if they knew how to get rid of guilt or resentment over things they’ve done to others and things others have done to them.

Talk About It

• Spend a few moments in prayer today asking God to forgive you for the things you’ve done to others.
• Then, pray about any resentment and bitterness you are holding against people who have hurt you. Ask God to help you forgive those people so you can move on to better health.

Rick Warren is the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., one of America’s largest and most influential churches. Rick is author of the New York Times bestseller The Purpose Driven Life. His book, The Purpose Driven Church, was named one of the 100 Christian books that changed the 20th century. He is also the founder of Pastors.com, a global Internet community for pastors.

This devotional ©2012 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.