“To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: ‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: “God, I thank you that I am not like all other men.” But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.'”
Luke 18:9-14
Most of us would like to identify with the tax collector. But frankly, we may be more like the Pharisee — a good, solid citizen who does things above the religious call of duty and would never consider himself capable of gross sinning.
Still convinced you are most like the repentant tax collector? Then try the test of the Lord’s words from Luke 18. Are you confident of your own righteousness? Do you compare yourself with others to see if you’re closer to the top? Do you, like the Pharisee, spend most of your prayer time petitioning God about yourself? If you answer yes to any of these questions, then it’s time to swallow the Lord’s prescription: Humble yourself.
And there’s nothing like an old Puritan prayer for true confession:
Merciful Lord, pardon all my sins of this day, week, year, all the sins of my life, sins of early, middle, and advanced years, of omission and commission, of morose, peevish and angry tempers, of lip, life and walk, of want of bold decision in the cause of Christ, of deficiency in outspoken zeal for his glory… Pardon all my sins, known and unknown, felt and unfelt, confessed and not confessed, remembered or forgotten. Good Lord, hear; and hearing, forgive.*
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*Bennett, Arthur, The Valley of Vision, The Banner of Truth Trust, Pennsylvania, 1975, p.87.
