Hanging up the dirty laundry.

James 5:16
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you might be healed.

This passage is in the context of sickness, so they're encouraging those who are sick to confess their sins that they may be healed. But could we take it further than that? Could we generalize to sin in general and the sickness of the heart? I'm not sure if this is totally off base...but I liked the idea and it challenged me.

Imagine if we confessed all our sins to someone else. What if I were to speak them aloud for others to hear? How does that sound for accountability?
Freaking scary.
Now, these hearers of my wrongs would not be able to save me or to cleanse my slate, but would I live differently if I practiced this? If I confessed and asked others to pray with me about whatever the issue may be?

I have definitely been given opportunities to ask for forgiveness for careless words and insensitive actions as of late, and I like it...kind of. It's hard but it's good. Good because it causes me to "call myself out", admit my faults, take responsibility for them, and seek reconciliation. Again, this verbalizing offenses doesn't detract from my need of cleansing that can only come from a Savior. But I want to squelch this tendency to offend, and so, perhaps by experiencing that kind of accountability, I can "heal" my poisonous patterns. I'll still be requesting cleansing from the fountain, being washed in the blood of the Lamb. But I'll also be creating vulnerability with those around me, airing out my dirty laundry, that I may be challenged and encouraged in order that God may be glorified.

So if you see some dirty frocks flapping in the breeze, don't be alarmed.
I'm just confessing my sins, that I might be healed.