Isaiah 1:18

Isaiah 1:18
"Come now, and let us reason together," Says the Lord, "Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool.

Before I learned about my faith, I had the misunderstanding of confession that a lot of people have.  I thought well, what is the point?  I can go and do whatever I want, confess, be forgiven, and then return to doing whatever I want.  Sorry, it doesn't work that way.  I find myself defending Catholics' ability to be cleaned of sin through confession often.  Some ask, "Why go to a priest, when I can go directly to God with my sins?"  Sure, you can and should confess directly to God, before confessing them to a priest.  The priest is there as a mediator between you and God, preforming a miracle washing us of our sins, cleaning our souls so that we can be open to His grace. You can confess directly, and He will hear you, but your soul will not be cleaned.

I have had others say to me, "Confession is meaningless.  I do what I want, confess, am forgiven and then go do what I want again."  This is so wrong I don't even know where to start.  Well first, confession has to be true in your heart before you can utter it to God.  You have to truly feel regret and have a desire to change the behavior.  If you think you are fooling God, well, then you have greater misconceptions than I can address right now.  Your sins can only be forgiven if the confession is a true desire for forgiveness and change.

I was amazed when I read about the sacrament of confession because after my first true confession, I wanted to run back in the room with things I had forgotten to confess.  But I learned that if the desire to be forgiven was in my heart, that God already forgave me!  He forgives us for that which we confess and for those that we may forget to confess but have a true desire to confess.  He has already taken into account our humanness by understanding that we can be forgetful.

Confession is so meaningful and such a gift.  I am amazed that our God is so loving that He would give us such a wonderful gift that we can have anytime we choose!  He didn't say, "you may only confess ten times in your lifetime so make them count!"  He allows us to ask forgiveness anytime our desire is true and He forgives without question!  Do we do that for others who apologize to us?  I never feel lighter than after a confession and I never feel more open to hearing His voice either.

Confession is humbling, that's why I think people don't want to partake.  No one likes to be told they aren't doing everything right.  But if we can go to our priests and confess our sins, admitting we have done wrong, then doesn't it open the door to doing the same with the people in our lives?  If you can admit the worst about yourself to Him, then can't you say sorry to your spouse, children, neighbors, coworkers?  We are not perfect and He knows it, He created us with the ability to sin.  We are tempted daily and sometimes we abstain and sometimes we give in but He allows us to ask and be forgiven if our desire is pure.

Thank you God for the gift of confession.  Help me to humble myself today and ask for Your forgiveness.

Thanks for reading!

Busy Mommy Blogger