As such, it is a gift from God that he uses to show His love and concern for us. It is one of two Sacraments of healing, the other being the Anointing of the Sick.
Sin is a real problem in our lives.
Despite our best efforts as a society to deny the significance of sin, sin is an integral part of the truth of who we are as humans. Try though we might, we do not always choose to follow God's ways over our own ways, and so we hurt our relationship with God and hurt others as well. The Sacrament of Penance is the ordinary means to forgiveness. God's Grace can not be limited, not even by His Sacraments, so in special situations the Lord can intervene in other ways. Therefore, we go to Confession because Jesus himself instituted this Sacrament that the Church freely supplies to her members.