Saying sorry when you’ve made a mistake is hard. Admitting that you did something wrong — whatever it may be — is difficult.
Saying sorry when you thought you were right is harder. Feeling like you were justified, at least in the moment, gives us license to keep our apology locked up — I had a good reason for doing what I did; I shouldn’t need to apologize.
But I’ve been learning:
- to swallow your pride;
- to give up your ‘right’ to be right;
- to acknowledge that even if you might have had a good reason for doing something, you still may have hurt the other person;
- to be the first to take the step of rebuilding trust, even if the other person doesn’t reciprocate at first;
— that’s evidence of an infinitely deeper and more humble character than the person who (thinks he or she) is always right.
I’m still not good at saying sorry and it’s still never fun; but it always serves as a step toward reconciliation and restored relationship (with God and ourselves, even if not immediately with our neighbor)–and I’m learning that that’s a deeper, more holy kind of fun.
Matthew 5:23 So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.
1 Corinthians 13:4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.