Step 5 - Confession

The key principle of Step 5, Confession, is “Admit to yourself, to your Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ, to proper priesthood authority, and to another person the exact nature of your wrongs.”

Step 5 is perhaps one of the most difficult steps to take in the addiction recovery program. It is natural to feel fear and an unwillingness to bear our souls in the confession of sins. However, peace and joy can again come into our lives through this cleansing process and through the “miracle of forgiveness.”

The first step in confession is to confess our sins to our Father in Heaven. In the Doctrine and Covenants we read the following: “I, the Lord, forgive sins unto those who confess their sins before me and ask forgiveness.” D&C 64:7

We must always remember that our Heavenly Father lives and is literally the father of our spirits. He loves us unconditionally and knows our name. Confessing our sins to a loving, caring Father in Heaven begins the process of making positive changes in our lives and gives us courage and strength to eventually confess to another person.

We all have a duty to confess our sins to our Heavenly Father; however more serious transgressions must also be confessed to proper priesthood leaders, usually the Bishop. Only the Lord can forgive our sins, but confidential confessing of sins to a priesthood leader plays a critical role in the process of repentance. Our priesthood leaders have been called of God and are blessed with loving discernment and inspiration in counseling with us. Our priesthood leaders usually understand the addiction recovery process, will prayerfully counsel with us, and will respond with understanding and compassion. We must remember to be humble, honest and fully open with our priesthood leaders.

“Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.” James 5:16

We must use care and wisdom in selecting a person other than our priesthood leaders to share our wrongs. We must not share our sensitive information with individuals we might suspect might extend improper guidance, provide misinformation or have difficulty maintaining confidences.

I testify that through properly and fully confessing our sins, we will receive a greater knowledge of God’s love for us and the love and support of many good people who will rally around us. We can take courage in the following statement of President Spencer W. Kimball,

“Repentance can never come until one has bared his soul and admitted his actions without excuses or rationalizations…Those persons who choose to meet the issue and transform their lives may find repentance the harder road at first, but they will find it the infinitely more desirable path as they taste of its fruits.”