Tell God Everything

Then we need to own up to God – We need to confess our faults to Him
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

Tell It All

If you are really sorry about the things you have done and the way you have been, to the degree that the bible would describe it as repentance, then the next step is to fully acknowledge to God what you have done...It's not that God doesn't already know. In fact, He knows each one of us far better than we know ourselves so don' think you can say anything that would shock Him.

However, we need to lay everything on the table – as much for us to face up to the truth about ourselves as anything else. It's a bit like going to the doctor and sharing all the symptoms of what is wrong with us so that the doctor can arrive at a diagnosis and prescribe a remedy. It's no good omitting some important symptoms because we are embarrassed or don't want to face up to them. The doctor needs to know everything.

So it is with God, that we need to spill the beans about how we have been. We won't remember everything simply because we are not capable of appreciating all we have done that displeases God, but what He wants is that we should come openly, sincerely and willing to make ourselves vulnerable before Him.

Perhaps Tell Others As Well

If we are aware that we have wronged other people, then it may also be appropriate that we go to them and confess what we have done. It is all indicative that we are genuinely sorry about our past life and we are determined, with God's help, to be different.

Following our medical analogy, it's as if we are now all prepped up and ready for God to perform some major spiritual surgery.