Unfortunately, none of us are perfect. But there are times when we just need to turn to God - with a request or for consolation. And in order for our words to be heard, we need to go through the sacrament of confession, to be cleansed of bad thoughts and sins. However, not all so simple. You need to prepare carefully and seriously for confession.
Preparation steps
Preparation for confession consists of several stages. First, you need to understand what exactly you should say. We are accustomed to consider ourselves kind, good, positive people. It’s rare that anyone dares even to himself to admit to not too plausible deeds and thoughts, let alone bring them to someone’s court, make them a subject of discussion … It seems to us that the majority of people act the way we do, and no one pokes at anyone fingers. Preparing for confession helps to realize the illegitimacy of such an opinion. The fact that someone does the same as we do does not remove the seal of sinfulness from our actions. Understand this and sincerely repent, want to get rid ofsins is what the sacred sacrament implies.
The next step is to try to deal with your embarrassment. It is especially strong when such a conversation with the Lord is for the first time. Preparation for confession includes the mindset that the priest who will listen to us is not just a person, but a kind of link between us and God. He is appointed by the Higher Power to perform the Sacrament of Repentance over us. Therefore, being embarrassed by him or trying to hide something is the same as hiding from the all-seeing eye of the Almighty. Thus, preparing for confession is a very, very serious spiritual work of a person on himself. It will give us the opportunity to come to a decision to say goodbye to some sins forever and to fight strongly against our other ungodly habits.
What rules of confession should you know in advance
Going to church, we tune in to the fact that our confession, our Deed will be pleasing to God and accepted by Him. This will happen if our words come from the heart, with maximum sincerity, without embellishment and effort to whitewash, justify ourselves, with humility and fear of the Lord. What are the basic confessional rules?
- Preparing for confession of sins requires realizing and telling your own, not someone else's. After all, we will ask for forgiveness for ourselves, and not for a neighbor;
- It is not necessary to tell a long story about something in confession. It is necessary to clearly and specifically state what we did “wrong” in our life, where we stumbled or made a mistake, to whom we hurt and harm;
- Confession in the churchdoes not provide for again and again remembering those offenses of which we have already repented and for which we have received forgiveness. Repetition is possible and even necessary only if we commit our sin again;
- But you can't hide anything either. Otherwise, it may seem that we are not aware of the seriousness of what is happening, we treat the process superficially, and, by and large, we do not take God Himself seriously, we play hide and seek with Him. Such an attitude is, of course, unacceptable. By doing this, we only make the burden of our sins heavier, make them unbearable;
- The main goal of confession is not only to get forgiveness, so that the priest reads the appropriate prayer over us. The goal is to give up the old unrighteous life and realize the desire to start a new life, as a child of God. If this is not in us, then confession will turn into a simple retelling of everyday stories, without enlightenment and purification. And there will be no point in this;
- In preparation for confession, one should fast and lead a modest lifestyle, read the Bible and spiritual literature. The priest you turn to will give appropriate instructions and instructions.
Confession is a responsible event, it imposes a number of duties on a person. Keeping them is the task of those who want to find in God a reliable support and guiding force for all earthly life.
