Since it is the New Year, I thought about all the resolutions I had made when I was young in the faith, of giving up this bad habit or that sin and all the times that I had failed. Then I thought of my children, how the concept of New Year’s resolutions is foreign to them. We have always taught our children that when the Holy Spirit exercises them of a sin in their lives, that they are to confess it as soon as possible:

To confess our sins is to agree with God that there is still sin in our lives, and that we have sinned. When I was young I was taught that once we have confessed our sin, God will forgive us. However, what I wasn’t taught was that God who is faithful promises to purify me from my sin, which is unrighteousness ^1Jn.3:7. It is not the promises we make to God through our determination that will allow us to overcome sin, it is by God’s faithfulness. I teach that it is through humbling ourselves in confession then believing God’s promise of deliverance from sin, that we can overcome it. To try alone is futile, we need to rely on God’s omnipotent strength:

Our New Year’s resolutions are futile efforts to prove our own uprightness, while our confessions are both an admittance that are helpless and a profession that God will do as he promised. Our faith is in a faithful God:

Therefore let us remember not to wait till the New Year to tell God what we hope to do, but may we confess our sin daily as we reach out in faith to Him who has promised. May we say with Paul: