Repentant First, Righteous Second

Some Christians think "being righteous" is the goal; that Jesus calls us to moral excellence. Others think that "being REAL" is the goal; that God just wants us to accept ourselves for who we are, and do the same for others. But actually, neither of these are complete ideas. Jesus is calling us to be REPENTANT. Truly repentant people recognize that they will never be righteous by their own effort, and they are not content to just be who they are, either. They realize that the goal of their lives is to be like Jesus. So they grieve in their hearts at the ways in which they fall short, and they continually walk in a humble and teachable way, asking the Holy Spirit to change them. Humility and repentance must come before righteousness, or it becomes SELF-righteousness, which pushes people away from ourselves, and the Lord.