You should show historical repentance because you are the fruit of historical sin. This is the first rule for a Unification Church member's life of faith. What is the first rule? The beginning of faith is to realize that we are the fruit of historical sin. That is why we should repent. You may say, "Oh, in what way did I sin? I didn't commit any sin." But you are like old, hollow pine trees that are toppling because they are hollow inside. You look like green leaves now but it is possible that you will fall off the tree before your time. Then when autumn comes, you are just leaves that, instead of supporting the fruit in its ripening, drop off without any connection with its maturing.

For that reason, you have to repent of the historical sin. This is where what we call sin came from. Do you understand? What kind of sin? You have to feel your historical sin. So you must take responsibility to cut off the historical sin. You must ruthlessly get rid of this sin. You must fight with yourself, saying, "Trample on my neck." You have to invest your authority and power to stand on the front line of conquering yourself. And then you should shout to yourself "You must follow my orders and do as I want." That's the first step for a life of faith. (68-315)

The beginning of a life of faith in the Unification Church is to feel that you are God's child, so that you can restore the position of children centered on God's love. If someone who is loved by God is neither proud of God's words nor wants to shout them to the cosmos, he cannot stand in the position of God's child. (22-205)