Humility is the best repentance before God

Much is made out of repentance in Christian circles in light of Jesus’ forgiveness. This isn’t without merit. A principal part of developing as a human being under God is an ethic of self improvement that comes from acknowledging short comings and overcoming them.

However, this approach, especially in the context of rebuke that Christians often visit on others, assumes perfect Godly knowledge of what action and short comings require repentance. Especially for individual action in the heat of the moment, or even inaction, is it really wise for one to assume they are perfectly aware and always repentant? Jesus alluded to this danger when he gave the analogy of one who sees a mote in another person’s eye while being unaware of the beam in their own. The harder you press at the imperfection of others, the more you lose sight of your own.

So where does that leave you? Given the importance of repentance in the Christian walk, how does one feel reconciled?

Consider the starting point for one who first enters into Christian life. You’re not expected to give an individual accounting for every single sin in your life. Rather, you acknowledge that you are a sinner in a single act of repentance. From a humble view of your past you create a way forward for a better future.

This, I believe, is the best way forward. Carrying your humility with you everyday is the best form of repentance. Part and parcel of this humility is the acknowledgement that you’re not perfect. Humility is not designed to discourage you regarding your life and place you under the burden of sin, but rather to ensure that your pride never sees you as more worthy of love than anyone else. While you might still see imperfection in others, your acknowledgement that you are no better than them before God, and thus equally worthy of forgiveness, shows your repentance for those things you do not acknowledge in yourself.

Ideally this leads to a Christian less prone to hypocritical rebuke or negative speech that casts aspersions on the spiritual walk of others. Humility holds back rebuke, because it is always self conscious about the beam in its eye as soon as it sees the mote in someone elses’.

Always better to be the humble publican than a prideful Pharisee. (Luke 18:10-14)