We’ve seen public figures, sports heroes, and national leaders “apologize” for a wrongdoing while not actually apologizing. It may involve saying, “I’m sorry people were offended by what I did.” There is not really an admission of guilt. The same sort of thinking works its way into our hearts, too, when we hide behind fake apologies. Only when we confess our sins wholeheartedly does true healing begin.

“This Psalm 32 passage gives me hope. I rejoice knowing God will respond to confession with complete forgiveness. I have found freedom here behind prison walls—greater freedom than I knew before—because I have confessed my sins to God, my fellow man, and myself. I don’t have to strive to be someone else; I don’t have to work to perpetuate a lie. Because I live ‘on the other side of the cross,’ I have confidence about the word righteous. It is Jesus alone who makes me righteous; nothing I do could get me there.”

“Rejoice in the LORD… you righteous” (v. 11). Just imagine… because of Jesus, God actually calls us “righteous”!