The most important step after confessing our sins to God is turning away from them. Confessing our sins to God without repentance is not acceptable to God. His forgiveness is meant to give us a chance to change our ways. It does not encourage us to sin more. People who say that they can keep on sinning because, after all, God will forgive their sins anyway when they confess them to God are lying to themselves, and God does not listen to their confessions. God looks at our hearts to see if we are sincere in our confessions. God knows that we are serious in our confession of sins when we are willing and longing to change. David continued his prayer to God through Psalm 51, "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me (10-12)." Being remorseful or feeling bad for our sins is not enough in our confessions; we must be willing to change. David was asking God to create in him a pure heart. The word "create" in this verse means a change of heart completely. David did not want to commit the same sins again. He was longing to change, but he understood his weaknesses that he was asking God to change his heart. He was asking God to renew his spirit within him.
David longed for a change of heart because he missed being in God's presence. He wanted to have the joy of his salvation once again. He asked God to give him a willing spirit to obey because he loved God. When we ask God for forgiveness, we need to ask ourselves our motivation. Is it because we want to feel better again? The right motivation is that we long for God's presence in our lives. We love him, and we want to be in the right relationship with Him. We do not want to stay in our sins because of our love for our God. Love for God is the motivation to ask God for forgiveness. If we do not have a strong, deep love for God, we need to ask God to create in us a pure heart and renew our spirit within us.
The next time we confess our sins to God, we need to ask ourselves why we want to be forgiven of our sins. If our motive is to be right before God because we love Him, then our actions will follow our hearts. We need to ask God to create in us a pure heart and renew our spirit within us so that we can have the right motive for forgiveness.
Ask yourself these questions for application: (Think through carefully, meditate on the questions while answering them, and let the Spirit of God speak to you.) What should be my motive in confessing my sins to God? What is my motive to be forgiven of my sins? Is it because I want to feel good, or is it because I love God?
Write down all the worries you face today and lift them up to God.
Prayer:
Father in Heaven, thank you for teaching me this morning about what true confession of sin is. I confess my sins not only so that you can forgive me but also so that my relationship with you can be restored. Create in me a clean heart and renew a spirit within me. Please give me a willing spirit to obey you because I love you. In your name, Lord Jesus, I pray. Amen.