We understand the importance of confessing our sins, our mistakes, our errors. But … confession is just a start. Confession takes courage; it requires guts. But it is not complete until we connect it with repentance.
It’s great when we as men step forward and confess our sins to God, to our spouse, to our faithful brothers. But this is NOT the end.
Repentance is saying we don’t want to be that man any longer. It is turning toward God. It is a willingness to become a new man, a loyal follower. Confession is the first step. Repentance is the next level, ultimate step.
While confession takes significant courage, repentance only requires a soft, tender and willing heart.
There are so many things we can learn from the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32). As I’ve been thinking about confession and repentance, I recognize that the prodigal son fully stepped into confession AND repentance. Very interesting to me that the older son displays a hard heart. This parable is another practical instruction on God’s desire for us to maintain a soft, repentant heart.
Brothers – let’s stay humble and tender with each other … confessing AND repenting of those things that have tripped us up. God loves our confessing, repentant, tender hearts! This process of confession and repentance is another reason I’m excited for our Vital Men groups to kick off in these upcoming weeks. We are better together when we are being real, confessing and repenting with each other regularly.
