On Friday, August 8, 2014, a Georgia peanut plant manager testified that his company had been shipping contaminated nuts. Sammy Lightsey admitted that the Peanut Corporation of America had knowingly sold nuts with fake documents showing them to be free of salmonella. Later the company was identified as the source of a nationwide outbreak that killed 9 Americans and made more than 700 ill. Company officers and managers are being charged with covering up lab tests and obstruction of justice. The Georgia plant was shut down and Peanut Corporation went bankrupt after the 2009 outbreak, but by then the damage had already been done.

It would have been much better if plant owners and bosses had admitted up front that the peanuts were contaminated. However, our sinful human nature often prevents us from telling the truth.

The Bible exhorts us to confess when we have made mistakes, and promises that things will work out better for us when we do.

“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”—James 5:16.