Our tendency is to follow someone or something who brings meaning and purpose to life. God does love us and care about us and wants to have a relationship with us that is personal and intimate and life transforming. Confession is healing in that we acknowledge to God and to ourselves that we have tried to make our own way to God instead of accepting his way Jesus' life, death, and resurrection for our sin. But we also must answer God's call to follow him. When we stop following ourselves and our own way, we then need to entrust our lives to following God and his way to follow the life and teachings of Jesus.
Submission is a dirty word today.
To submit to someone is to put ourselves under their authority and leadership. However, when we place ourselves under the authority of Jesus, we can do so based on his incredible love for us. We can do so with the full knowledge that he loves us and wants the very best for us that he reaches out to us in loving relationship to draw us close to God. Jesus is the one who has defeated sin and evil on our behalf. He is our guide, the pioneer who offers to show us the way in how to live.