Growing up Baptist, my first confessions were hard.
Not because I doubted God.
Not because I doubted the priest standing in persona Christi.
The real struggle was inside me—my pride—the idea that I needed anything other than myself —my fear of naming my sin out loud. I wanted forgiveness… but I didn’t want surrender.
And intention matters.
In everything, intention matters.
God gives us real freedom.
We can ignore His commandments for a time.
We can hold on to old patterns, old habits, old ways of thinking.
But sooner or later, every one of us stands before the God who sees the heart.
Jesus tells us you can’t pour new wine—the life of the Kingdom—into old wineskins.
You can’t receive new life with a heart that refuses to be changed.
God desires a transformed heart.
Scripture says,
“The word of God is living and effective,
able to discern the reflections and thoughts of the heart.”
God’s Word cuts through our excuses,
our appearances,
our religious habits,
even our self‑deception.
It reaches the place where we finally stop pretending.
And here’s the truth I keep learning:
God wants your heart before He wants your actions.
Because once He has your heart,
your actions will follow.
Confession isn’t about shame.
It’s about letting God make us new from the inside out—
a real inner transformation, not just an external practice.
That’s where freedom begins.
Prayer
God of mercy,
open my heart to Your light.
Cut through my excuses, my fears, my pride,
and speak Your truth within me.
Make me honest before You,
humble enough to surrender,
and brave enough to be changed.
and let every action flow from Your grace.
Amen.
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