"Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." - Romans 10:9
The above verse is about being bold and announcing that Christ is king by saying the words "Jesus is Lord". But our understanding of what it means to confess Christ is our saviour doesn't have to stop here. For many of us, opportunities to say these words or something similar to show others that we accept Christ won't be an everyday occurrence, but there are other ways that we confess with our mouths that we believe in Jesus every single day.
We can start by thinking about whether what comes out of our mouths reveals a character of faith and Christ-like qualities. Confessing that "Jesus is Lord" but then cursing our enemies with the same mouth isn't representative of a life changed by Jesus' teachings. This behaviour is at odds with his command that our enemies are to be loved. If we profess that he is Lord than we must act in a way that shows a willingness to follow him.
Here are five ways that we can confess our confidence in Christ.
Confessing our sins We know that Christ offers us salvation and freedom from sin's grip but we still stumble at times after we've accepted this. We can't hide from our sins and neither should we. If we confess them, we can be forgiven. It takes a conscious admission to demonstrate genuine repentance and a desire to move on. Acknowledging our sins by confessing to them with our mouths is an effective declaration of having faith that God forgives.
Praying aloud This is one of the most indisputable signs that we consider Christ is Lord. It shows a confidence in the fact that Christ hears us when we speak to him. Praying out loud is one way that we can show that we're not interested in keeping secret our faith, that we care more about what Jesus thinks than what other people do and that we recognise that there's power in his name.
Talking about Jesus If we truly believe Jesus is Lord, we shouldn't try to compartmentalise him. He shouldn't be confined to only coming up in our interactions with other Christians. Because he's such a major part of our lives, he should enter our conversations with all types of people, on all types of topics. Keeping quiet about the impact Jesus has on our lives isn't a way of confessing his greatness, but mentioning the difference he's made is.
Praise his name We don't have to wait until Sunday to sing Christ's praises. We can give thanks to him for all that he's done for us each day. Lifting up our voices to glorify him is another way of proclaiming who he is and displays our recognition that he is indeed worthy of praise.
Speak kindly to and about others There's so much hate in our world that, as sad as it may sound, kind words can actually set us apart. If Christ is in our hearts than our words should reflect that. Each time we guard our tongues and speak truthfully and gently towards others because we're following Christ's guidance, we are are effectively confessing that we believe in him.
