Confession

"He who is alone with his sin is utterly alone. It may be that Christians, notwithstanding corporate worship, common prayer, and all their fellowship in service, may still be left to their loneliness. The final breakthrough to fellowship does not occur, because, though they have fellowship with one another as believers and as devout people, they do not have fellowship as the the undevout, as sinners. The pious fellowship permits no one to be a sinner. So everyone must conceal his sin from himself and from the fellowship. We dare not be sinners. Many Christians are unthinkably horrified when a real sinner is suddenly discovered among the rightous. So we remain alone in our sin, living in lies and hypocrisy. The fact is that we are sinners.

But it is the Grace of the Gospel, which is so hard for the pious to understand, that it confronts us with the truth and says: You are a sinner, a great desperate sinner; now come, come as the sinner that you are, come to God who loves you. He wants you as you are; He does not want anything from you, a sacrifice, a work; He wants you alone! "My son, give me thine heart" (Prv 23:26) God has come to you to save the sinner. Be glad! This message is liberation through truth. You can hide nothing from God. The mask you wear before men will do you no good before Him. He wants to see you as you are, He wants to be gracious to you. You do not have to go on lying to yourself and to your brothers, as if you were without sin; you can dare to be a sinner. Thank God for that. He loves the sinner."

-Bonhoeffer