Clean

1 O LORD, who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy hill? 2 Those who walk blamelessly, and do what is right, and speak the truth from their heart; (Psalm 15:1-2)

On our own, we are hopeless. None of us is blameless or always does what's right. Without the life death and resurrection of Jesus, we have no right to seek the presence of God - to ask for anything, or even to offer anything. The world we live in and the life we walk through breaks the heart and darkens the mind and soul of each person. Even the good we do gets tangled up in selfishness.

14 Then he [Jesus] called the crowd again and said to them, "Listen to me, all of you, and understand: 15 there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile." 17 After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. 18“Are you so dull?”he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them?19 For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.”(In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.) 20 He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. 21 For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, 22 adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person." ( Mark 7:14-15, 17-23)

Through confession we can be made clean. It's that simple, but it's not always easy. The honesty with which we must see ourselves can be painful, but it comes with the benefit of removing arrogance and pride, and restoring reverence and gratitude for God's grace and mercy.

8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:8-9)