Overall Question: How do we turn away from sin?

Memory Text: 1 John 1:9 CEV “But if we confess our sins to God, he can always be trusted to forgive us and take our sins away.”

Sunday – The Light
1 John 1:5 ESV “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”
1 John 1:5 COMMENTARY BY ADAM CLARKE LIGHT implies every essential excellence, especially wisdom, holiness, and happiness. DARKNESS implies all imperfection, and principally ignorance, sinfulness, and misery. LIGHT is the purest, the most subtile, the most useful, and the most diffusive of all God's creatures; it is, therefore, a very proper emblem of the purity, perfection, and goodness of the Divine nature.
Psalm 27:1 God’s Word to the Nations “The LORD is my light and my salvation. Who is there to fear? The LORD is my life’s fortress. Who is there to be afraid of?”
Psalm 36:9 God’s Word to the Nations “Indeed, the fountain of life is with you. In your light we see light.”
Matthew 4:16 God’s Word to the Nations “The people who lived in darkness have seen a bright light. A light has risen for those who live in a land overshadowed by death."”
Matthew 4:16 COMMENTARY BY ALBERT BARNES A shadow is caused by an object coming between us and the sun. So the Hebrews imaged death as standing between us and the sun, and casting a long, dark, and baleful shadow abroad on the face of the nations, denoting their great ignorance, sin, and woe. It denotes a dismal, gloomy, and dreadful shade, where death and sin reign, like the chill damps, and horrors of the dwelling-place of the dead. These expressions denote that the country of Galilee was peculiarly ignorant and blind. We know that the people were proverbially so. They were distinguished for a coarse, outlandish manner of speech, and are represented as having been distinguished by a general profligacy of morals and manners. It shows the great compassion of the Saviour, that he went to preach to such poor and despised sinners.
John 3:19 God’s Word to the Nations “This is why people are condemned: The light came into the world. Yet, people loved the dark rather than the light because their actions were evil.”
John 3:19 SDA BIBLE COMMENTARY While men remain unenlightened there is no condemnation (Ps. 87:4, 6; Eze. 3:18–21; 18:2–32; 33:12–20; Luke 23:34; John 15:22; Rom. 7:7, 9; 1 Tim. 1:13), but when the light of truth shines into their hearts “they have no cloke for their sin” (John 15:22). Men who are unwilling to give up their evil ways prefer darkness, and in so doing blind themselves to the light (2 Cor. 4:4). On the other hand, Jesus has promised that those who choose to follow Him “shall not walk in darkness” (John 8:12) and that no one shall be able to “pluck” them out of His hand (ch. 10:28).
John 8:12 Holman “Then Jesus spoke to them again: “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows Me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.””
John 12:46 KJ21 “I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth in Me should not abide in darkness.”
1 Timothy 6:16 NIV “who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.”
1 Timothy 6:16 COMMENTARY BY ADAM CLARKE Such is the excessive glory of God, that neither angel nor man can approach it. It is indeed equally unapproachable to all created beings.

Monday – The Sin Problem
1 John 1:6-10 BBE “6 If we say we are joined to him, and are walking still in the dark, our words are false and our acts are untrue: 7 But if we are walking in the light, as he is in the light, we are all united with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son makes us clean from all sin. 8 ¶ If we say that we have no sin, we are false to ourselves and there is nothing true in us. 9 If we say openly that we have done wrong, he is upright and true to his word, giving us forgiveness of sins and making us clean from all evil. 10 If we say that we have no sin, we make him false and his word is not in us.”
1 John 1:8 COMMENTARY BY MATTHEW HENRY The Christian religion is the religion of sinners, of such as have sinned, and in whom sin in some measure still dwells. The Christian life is a life of continued repentance, humiliation for and mortification of sin, of continual faith in, thankfulness for, and love to the Redeemer, and hopeful joyful expectation of a day of glorious redemption, in which the believer shall be fully and finally acquitted, and sin abolished for ever.

Tuesday – Responses to the Sin Problem
1 John 1:7 ESV “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”
1 John 1:9 ESV “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 COMMENTARY BY WILLIAM BURKITT Now confession of sin is a penitent sinner's voluntary accusing himself to God, and condemning himself before God, with hatred of, shame and sorrow for, and a full resolution against his sin, together with an earnest desire of, and some good hope in divine mercy.
1 John 2:2 ESV “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”

Wednesday – The Christian’s Goal
1 John 2:1 Holman “My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ the righteous One.”
1 John 2:1 SDA BIBLE COMMENTARY If any man sin. That is, commit a definite act of sin. Although the Christian’s goal is sinlessness. John here acknowledges the possibility of the sincere Christian’s committing a sin. He does this, not to condone sin, but to introduce One who can save him from sin into which he may have fallen.
1 Kings 8:46 NRSV “"If they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near;”
Romans 3:10-20 NRSV “10 as it is written: "There is no one who is righteous, not even one; 11 there is no one who has understanding, there is no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned aside, together they have become worthless; there is no one who shows kindness, there is not even one." 13 "Their throats are opened graves; they use their tongues to deceive." "The venom of vipers is under their lips." 14 "Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness." 15 "Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 ruin and misery are in their paths, 17 and the way of peace they have not known." 18 "There is no fear of God before their eyes." 19 ¶ Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For "no human being will be justified in his sight" by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.”
Romans 3:19 COMMENTARY BY MATTHEW HENRY Now concerning the guiltiness of man, [h]e fastens it particularly upon the Jews; for they were the men that made their boast of the law, and set up for justification by it.
1 Timothy 1:15 NRSV “The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the foremost.”

Thursday – The Christian’s Comfort
1 John 2:1-2 20th Century NT “1 ¶ My children, I am writing to you to keep you from sinning; but if any one should sin, we have one who can plead for us with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous— 2 and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but for those of the whole world besides.”
1 John 2:1 COMMENTARY BY ALBERT BARNES And if any man sin. As all are liable, with hearts as corrupt as ours, and amidst the temptations of a world like this, to do. This, of course, does not imply that it is proper or right to sin, or that Christians should have no concern about it; but the meaning is, that all are liable to sin, and when we are conscious of sin the mind should not yield to despondency and despair. It might be supposed, perhaps, that if one sinned after baptism, or after being converted, there could be no forgiveness. The apostle designs to guard against any such supposition, and to show that the atonement made by the Redeemer had respect to all kinds of sin, and that under the deepest consciousness of guilt and of personal unworthiness, we may feel that we have an advocate on high.

Friday – Further Study
Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, p. 37 – “The only reason why we do not have remission of sins that are past is that we are not willing to humble our hearts and comply with the conditions of the word of truth. Explicit instruction is given concerning this matter. Confession of sin, whether public or private, should be heartfelt and freely expressed. It is not to be urged from the sinner. It is not to be made in a flippant and careless way, or forced from those who have no realizing sense of the abhorrent character of sin.”
Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, p. 39 – “Confession will not be acceptable to God without sincere repentance and reformation. There must be decided changes in the life; everything offensive to God must be put away. This will be the result of genuine sorrow for sin.”
Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, p. 40 – “When sin has deadened the moral perceptions, the wrongdoer does not discern the defects of his character nor realize the enormity of the evil he has committed…His confessions are not sincere and in earnest. To every acknowledgment of his guilt he adds an apology in excuse of his course, declaring that if it had not been for certain circumstances he would not have done this or that for which he is reproved.“
Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, p. 41 – “The examples in God’s word of genuine repentance and humiliation reveal a spirit of confession in which there is no excuse for sin or attempt at self-justification. Paul did not seek to shield himself; he paints his sin in its darkest hue, not attempting to lessen his guilt. He says, ‘Many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them. And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities.’ Acts 26: 10, 11.”
Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, p. 41 – “The humble and broken heart, subdued by genuine repentance, will appreciate something of the love of God and the cost of Calvary; and as a son confesses to a loving father, so will the truly penitent bring all his sins before God.”

True confession comes when a person confesses and asks forgiveness having heartfelt remorse. True forgiveness comes when a person confesses both to God and the person offended AND asks for forgiveness.

As a child I would sometimes try to 'excuse' my mistakes and sins, saying that so and so made me so made that I flew off the handle in anger. (As a very young child, "I am so mad that I could jump up and down." Then one day, mother called me on it and I jumped up and down until I was cured of it. LOL)

Flip Wilson as Geraldine used to say "The devil made me do it."

Both are childish behaviors.

I agree, true confession comes when a person confesses and asks for forgiveness with remorse, but isn't there one more step, that is, repentance. As you said ChildofChrist, you have to be cured of it.