You don't need to be perfect to go to confession

Reading the title of this article, you might think to yourself, "Well, duh." I know, it does seem like an utterly obvious statement that you don't need to be perfect to be able to go to confession. After all, if you were perfect, you'd have nothing to confess. But somehow this line of thinking makes sense when you're deep in sin and deprived of the sacraments. 

In this state of mortal sin, the truth is fuzzy, and you're easily confused. You're also in the hands of the devil, who will trick you into staying where you are. Since I believe this way of thinking is a tactic that satan uses to keep us from God, I think it's worth pointing out. When we can recognize these lies for what they are, we can dismiss them and get closer to the truth. 

In times where I've been far from God, I longed for Him and thought often of going to confession. But satan's falsehoods and lies would immediately fill my head and bring me to despair. He told me that I was too weak to stop sinning, so there was no point. That I'll sin again, so I wasn't really sorry. Have I seen the life I've been living? I'm not worthy. 

I focused so much on the line in the act of contrition- 'I firmly resolve, with the help of your grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life.' But with satan's help, I zeroed in on the resolve to amend my life, forgetting about the rest. In my state of confusion and despair, I came to believe that to go to confession and tell God that I resolve to amend my life, I had to be able to show up with my life already on the mend. Now, not to any extreme degree. All I had to do was be perfect and sinless for maybe about a week (haha!) That would prove to God that I'm serious. Then He could forgive me. Of course I never got to that point, and the lies were reinforced. "See? You're too weak. You're not really sorry. You don't deserve God's graces."

But wait... graces!

When I finally reevaluated that line in the act of contrition, I could see the truth. I do need to amend my life, but with the help of His grace. And where can I get that grace? Confession. Confession is where we begin our life anew. We don't go to confession to show God that all that sin is totally in the past, we're good now, so now can He please love us again? We go, drowning, dirty, burdened, in the midst of our broken lives, to reach up a hand and say "I'm sorry. Help me."

So many lies and tricks can keep us from confession, and therefore union with God. And it's easy to be discouraged while your soul is bogged down by sin. If you want to go to confession, but have been avoiding it, ask yourself- are you sorry for your sins? And would you like to be free of them? If yes, get to confession! You and God will work the rest out afterwards.