Heart attitude

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.” Psalm 51:17
God hasn’t changed from the Old Testament to the New. While He instituted the Old Testament sacrifices, these were as symbols and not because the blood of animals could actually cleanse anyone’s sin (Heb. 10:4). They were symbols of Christ who was to come, and also a visual reminder to the people how serious God takes sin: that it requires the shedding of blood (Heb. 9:22).
However, over time many people became callous to these things, the Pharisees being the prime example of those who prided themselves in keeping the ceremonial law down to a T, yet missed the whole point (Matt. 15:2-6, Matt. 23). They continued in sin, thinking, ‘Oh, I can just go to the temple and make an offering,’ without making any change in their heart or repenting. Jesus told the story of a Pharisee and a tax-collector (Luke 18:9-14), where the tax-collector received forgiveness because he repented, but the Pharisee did not.
Sadly, it is the same today in the body of Christ. God requires a change in our heart attitude towards repentance, not an outward action. No matter how many things we do, if we don’t repent in our hearts, it gains us nothing (see 1 Cor. 13:3). But if we do repent, God will forgive us every time (1 John 1:9). He will not despise us when our heart is broken over our sin.