Each of our lives is full of decisions, thoughts, and actions, to which, all of these combined makes us into the person that we are, for better or for worse. When we make errors, when we make mistakes, it isn't really so important that we regret such things although we often do, or even apologize for such things although we mouth the words; it is on the other hand, of far more importance to recognize that we have done wrong, and to thereby see it as a lesson to be corrected now and into the future, as opposed to regrets and apologies which while having their place, do not in themselves, change fundamentally the mind or our mindset.
For far too many people, life is full of selfish justifications, such as in the areas of disputes or arguments or confrontations, and within our own belief, twisting and turning such in a manner, to which we will somehow convince ourselves that we haven't done anything wrong at all, or if so, it is mitigated completely by the higher wrong done to us by the other side. Unfortunately, no matter how much we may believe that this is true, seldom are things, so easily divided into a situation in which one side is 100% right and the other side is 100% wrong, in fact, quite often, there is error and fault on both sides, to which each party, has a strong tendency to deny such a reality or possibility.
This means, that those that are in denial of their sins, of their errors, and of their wrongs, will not soon correct their actions because such a denial indicates that there is no correction needed and hence none is made. This is indeed the error made by the Pharisee at the temple, who exalted himself, in the belief that his fasting and tithing, worthy symbols of a righteous life, were when scrutinized in the light of God's justice, seen to actually be fool's gold, and thereby a life justified wrongly.
The things that makes us stumble, should be looked at, rectified and learned from, so that we can successfully transition from our childish ways into the ways of becoming an adult, and in order to be an adult, we must take responsibility for our actions, for our behavior, and for our thoughts, so that we may eventually be able to aid those of our brothers and children in their decision making, for surely the blind cannot successfully lead the blind.
We go to school to learn, and to learn specifically our lessons, and when we do well, we score on or about 100%, and when we do poorly we score considerably lower. Our life on this good earth is our biggest lesson of all, and we as its students, should be taught and to learn from those that are far wiser than ourselves, experienced, and dedicated to seeing that we are given the opportunity to better ourselves.
The sins of commission and omission that we make are ours and ours alone, and it is our duty to rectify these things so as to better not only ourselves, but to better this world and the people that populate it. This then is our foremost duty, to which our real success in life is built around the success of others that we have properly influenced for the better. On the other hand, those that hurt others, ignore and repeat their errors, and demonstrate weakness of character in all of its many guises, will find that in the endthat the weight of sin is a burden that is far heavier than any brother that they have failed to carry.