It happened here—a hall corner between my daughter’s and son’s bedrooms--where I tried to “train up” my children in the way they should go regarding relationships. Proverbs 22:15 says, “Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him.” I didn’t get out a “discipline rod” to resolve petty arguments, but I did use “time out” in their bedrooms before coming to this spot in the hall to apologize and ask forgiveness. At times their hugs and “sorry’s” were quite wooden, but I trusted that this discipline would reinforce truths about living God’s way. They grew up to be responsible adults with many friends.
As I thought recently about “apologies,” three powerful Bible examples came to mind.
Insincere apologies—“Sorry you had a problem about it....” As King Saul geared up for a major battle at Gilgal, he had a problem. The prophet Samuel told him to wait a week for Samuel to come and offer the proper pre-battle sacrifices. When Day 7 arrived with no Samuel in sight, Saul panicked and performed the sacred “sacrifice” of animals himself. An appalled Samuel showed up just as Saul finished. Saul’s excuse was full of “I” words, ending, “I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering” (1 Samuel 13:12). Samuel scolded him: “You acted foolishly.” From then on, Saul’s days as king were numbered.
Cover-up apologies—“Sorry
I messed up, but don’t make me look bad.” A few chapters later, the prophet
Samuel told Saul to completely destroy the Amalekites: people, cattle, sheep,
camels and donkeys. But Saul and soldiers disobeyed, keeping some of the animal
“booty.” Plus, Saul put up a prideful monument in his own honor! When Samuel
came and heard all the noises of the Amalekite livestock, he condemned Saul for
not following the orders for annihilation. Samuel declared:
To obey is better than
sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like
the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. (1 Samuel
15:22b-23a)Saul’s reaction: “I have sinned. But please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel” (v. 30). (Read that again! The nerve of it floors me!)
Sincere apologies—“I
have sinned against the Lord” (2 Samuel 12:13). King David succumbed to
lust, committing adultery with a married woman. Learning he got her pregnant,
he arranged to have her husband killed in the heat of battle. He tried to hide
his secret until the prophet Nathan pulled a confession out of him. The best
mirror for David’s confession of this incident is his Psalm 51:
“Against you, you
only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight” (Psalm 51:4)
I see these applications for today:
Insincere apologies—The
pouty “s-o-r-r-y” which tries to appease an offended person.
Cover-up apologies—The insincere “s-o-r-r-y”
that says, “Sorry, you don’t agree with me, but I had to do it. It’s all about me, after all.”
Sincere apologies—The
humble “I am so sorry” that expresses: “God has convicted me of my sin in
(description of offense). I was wrong and know I have sinned against you. Could
you find it in your heart to forgive me and give me a second chance? I want to obey God in every way, and this
struggle is part of my journey to a life of pleasing God.”
True, life-changing “I’m sorry” goes along with growing in
Christ. It’s the real thing because the
Real Thing is just ahead. Someday, instead of standing in the hall between
siblings’ bedrooms, we’ll kneel before the throne of Almighty God. He has seen
every single action of our lives, and judges rightly and righteously—even considering
how we have said, “I’m sorry.”
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