For a whole lot of people, it’s difficult to confess to a bad act or to admit fault for something that was really hurtful, because it reflects poorly on them. Nevertheless, people do confess, but what we find when we look under the hood is that not every confession is actually equal, for some confessions have their self-serving purpose that makes the person so confessing appear to be a person of repentance and reformation, when in actuality, it has more to do with the fact that once burned, twice shy.
Indeed, people make mistakes that they not only do regret, but because they have been caught or will be caught in their mistake, they own up to it, which seems to reflect that they are sincere and repentant people. While that may well be true for some people in some circumstances, what we find is that those people that have committed a grave error and have taken account that what they did was ultimately of no benefit to them, and made them to feel guilty, or put them at risk at something they did not desire to face, is that they have thus made up their mind not to repeat such an action, because that action had negative consequences that significantly outweighed whatever benefit or joy that they may have anticipated receiving. That is to say, those confessing to those faults, are doing so, because they have no intention on repeating what they did, so while their confession is true, and their regret is also true, the true reason why they are confessing though is that they aren’t ever going to do it again, and by confessing, it makes them to appear to be of better character than they really are.
On the other hand, there are those confessions that are truly remorseful, not only because the action was wrong, but also because the person confessing feels that they have let down not only others but also themselves, and feels shame and embarrassment for having done so. These types of confessions are difficult because they expose us to the fair judgment of others, while also making us appear to be people of a bad and troubling character, which makes us feel less than those we respect and care about. Nevertheless, the very first step in any sort of healing or recompense is to honestly admit to the error, and the next step is to make amends to it, which can be better aided whenever the other calls us to account on our behavior, so as to keep us in conformance to that which we promised to reform ourselves upon.
In sum, those so confessing to us, do not always come from the same place, and while we can appreciate anyone that honestly admits to their bad act, and thereby makes a solemn promise to not commit such in the future, as well as to also to make good on what they did wrong, that isn’t necessarily the full story, because some confessions have a hidden agenda, that has not been owned up to, and thereby those confessions aren’t made of the same or right stuff.