Abbot Nikon Vorobiev claims that the main necessary thing to attain humbleness is gaining the ability to see your own sinful nature. Only after realising how sinful you are, you can truly humble yourself.
I can surely agree with this thought. The main majority of our sins is connected with arrogance. We don’t want to condescend to our neighbours’ weaknesses just because we feel that we are better, that in the same situation we would behave differently, more righteously. We look down on everybody, start judging and taking offence because we are incapable of seeing all the abomination of our own heart. That’s the main problem why we can’t change our lives completely.
On the opposite, saints saw the error of their ways, they lamented and grieved because they realised all their wickedness though they were definitely much purer than we are. Yet they prayed and beseeched God to grant them one more day in order to repent.
To conclude, I firmly believe that our central purpose should be gaining this sense of sinfulness and humbleness in order to be saved.
