On Sunday, June 7, I shared part of a confession of sins from our Lutheran Service Book hymnal near the end of my sermon.
The part of the confession that I highlighted was this line:
"I have not let His love have its way with me, and so my love for others has failed."
As Christians, God calls and commands us to love God and love people. The beginning of doing that work is confessing that we are imperfect at doing it. By confessing our sins and shortcomings, we end up relying on God's grace and forgiveness rather than our own effort of trying harder.
The good news is that when we begin with confession we get to receive God's grace, forgiveness, and love. And as we live in that grace and receive that forgiveness we are then able to share it with the world around us.
The end of the confession goes like this:
"I am sorry for all of this and ask for grace. I want to do better."
"God be merciful to you and strengthen your faith. Amen."
May God's grace, forgiveness, love, and mercy strengthen your faith and give you the grace to love others well.
(you can read the entire Individual Confession Rite on pg. 292 of the LSB hymnal)