He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. (Proverbs 28:13, N.K.J.V.)

A businessman stopped at a restaurant and ordered a cup of coffee. The waitress didn’t even try to disguise her annoyance at such a small order that would no doubt be followed by a small tip. When she did return with the cup of coffee, her body language let the businessman know that she didn’t appreciate him or his order. But as she walked away, the businessman dared to press the situation even further. He said, “If you wouldn’t mind I’d like some cream, some sugar, a spoon, a napkin, and a saucer for the cup.” Now the waitress was really perturbed. She said, “Well, aren’t you the demanding one?” To that the businessman replied, “Hey, look at it from my point of view. All I ordered was a cup of coffee and you made five mistakes with that!”

It cuts against our human nature to admit when we are wrong. Since being wrong walks hand in hand with being inadequate or inferior, for us to admit wrongdoing is tantamount to admitting that we require improvement. It is us saying to the world, “I didn’t measure up in this particular situation.”

Christian, could it be that you are right now in the wrong about something? Maybe you are committing a wrong act. Maybe you are thinking a wrong thought. Maybe you are harboring a wrong opinion. Maybe you are working on a wrong project. Maybe you are holding a wrong attitude. Maybe you are judging someone wrongly. Maybe you are chasing a wrong dream.

Each of us would do well to submit to a self-assessment and ask God to show us any way in which we are in the wrong. We shouldn’t invent something if nothing is there, but we definitely shouldn’t ignore something that God points out to us. If He does point out something, our proper response is to utter those two awful words, “I’m wrong” and ask Him to help us get in the right. And it goes without saying that if our wrong crosses over the line and actually becomes sin, we should confess the sin, repent of it immediately, and find our forgiveness in Jesus.

The Bible is filled with characters who do wrong things. It lets us see people “warts and all.” It is also, however, a book that sings the praises of admittance, confession, and repentance. An old saying says that the first thing you must do to get out of a hole is stop digging. Well, in regards to you getting right about being wrong, for you to stop digging you must admit your wrongdoing.

You see, you’re never going to make any progress with the Lord as long as your mouth is full of excuses for why you are doing wrong. That’s not what He wants to hear from you. What He wants to hear is you saying, “Lord, I realize now that I’ve been wrong; please help me get right.” Yes, everything really does start with you admitting that you’re wrong, and if you won’t even do that, all that’s left to say to you is, “Keep digging.”