“Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed,” says James 5:16. Through my Christian walk, I have realized the importance of this verse. This verse is a huge key for a young man to have a steadfast walk with God. Now, we can tend to think of “confessing your faults one to another” as a broad kind of confession, like to confess to everyone at church—but for us as young men, it especially applies to our relationship with our dads. How much do you share your struggles with your dad?

When I was about 15, God really began calling me to surrender my life to Him. I tried to dodge it and just not think about it, but I could never fully shake it off. At times I would tremble, but I still would not surrender to Him. I began to struggle with sins that all young men struggle with, but instead of sharing them with my dad and asking for his guidance in my life, I hid these struggles and pretended I didn’t have them, which was very dangerous. I would lie to him that I wasn’t struggling with these things, and acted like everything was OK. I began to grow more and more burdened from hiding these things from my dad, and eventually I found myself becoming more and more dark and rebellious. Finally, I could not take it any longer, and I confessed my sins to God and my dad, and surrendered my life to Him. I had never felt so free in my life!

Unfortunately, after a while, I began to grow loose in my Christian walk. As a result, I started struggling with some of the same things I was hiding from my dad earlier. I wasn’t praying or reading my Bible like I should, and most importantly, I was not keeping an open relationship with my dad. I was starting to backslide fast, and I almost completely lost my faith. But, by God’s mercy, He woke me up from my spiritual deadness and showed me how dangerous of a situation I was in. I immediately asked God for forgiveness and restored my relationship with my dad.

I then grew more and more in the Lord. God helped me to be more faithful in keeping an honest relationship between me and my dad, and also in my prayer life and my Bible readings. This accountability and spiritual discipline were the keys that helped me to find victory in my struggles.

It is always difficult to come to my dad and confess something I’ve done or didn’t do, but the blessing of having a clear relationship with my dad is always worth it. It is always so wonderful to have that “clear heaven” again, and to feel God’s blessing on my life.

Over time, I have realized the importance of keeping an open and honest relationship with my dad. It took me a while to realize how important it was, but once I did, it became a very important aspect in my life. When I had confessed and shared with my dad the things I was struggling with, my walk with the Lord was always much sweeter, and I truly did feel that my conscience was healed like the verse in James says. I would like to challenge us as young men to keep close and honest relationships with our dads.