Have you seen that video? The one where an Indian woman in Los Angeles is caught shoplifting, her cart bursting at the seams with loot not paid for? No expression of guilt. No whisper of remorse. Just a flustered, frantic face—because she had been caught.

Ah yes, that scared expression: “What will people think?” Not “What did I do?” Not “Whom did I wrong?” But “How will this look on Instagram?” Remorse today has become more about reputation than reflection. We don’t cry for what we’ve done—we panic over who saw it.

She wasn’t wailing over wrongdoing. She was fretting about footage. “Why did they film me?” she might have screamed inside. “Why didn’t I do this at a small shop in India instead?”

And it got me thinking—how many of us behave the same way when it comes to sin?

Oh, I can hear you now, “Bob, you’ve jumped from petty theft to sin? That’s a huge leap!”
Is it, really?

Jesus once said, “But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” (Luke 13:3)
He didn’t say, “Unless you get caught.”
He didn’t say, “Unless people talk about it.”
He said repent.

And that’s where we flounder.

Because today, repentance has become a performance. Like a stage performance, all tears, loud sighs, and melodrama—until the curtain falls. We walk out of the prayer room exactly as we walked in, sin safely tucked in our back pocket, ready for its next guest appearance.

I’ve known people—oh yes, good, devout types—who say “Sorry, Lord” like they’re ordering idlis at an Udipi Hotel.
“Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. But also, Father, do keep the job offer, visa appointment, and wedding proposal lined up as we discussed.”

God is not a vending machine that accepts coins of ritual confession and dispenses grace. He’s a Father who looks for real remorse, the kind that comes with a change of heart—not just a performance outside the confessional.

You can almost imagine yourself arriving at Heaven’s Gates one day—saints flipping through the Book of Life like immigration officers with tired eyes.
“Name?”
“DeSouza from Goa.”
“Not here.”
“What? But I confessed every Sunday!”
“Yes, but never meant it. And went back to it, Monday through Saturday.”

Remorse, my friend, is not about being sorry you got caught. It’s about being shattered you did wrong.

It’s not about hiding your face from the world. It’s about turning your face to God.

And when Jesus said “Go and sin no more,” (John 8:11), He wasn’t issuing a challenge—He was offering a chance. A second chance. But only if we truly want it.

So, the next time you say “Sorry,” make sure it’s not just a line from a script, but a cry from the soul. Because heaven doesn’t go by the number of ritualistic confessions made—it goes by the ones that are real…!

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