I love you. No. The most difficult three words for most of us are,
I am sorry.
You know what it’s like. You’ve said something in the heat of the moment, and you regret that moment. You shouldn’t have said it. Maybe you lost your temper and let fly with some words you now regret. What do you do? I think you should apologise. It’s not a sign of weakness actually it’s the opposite. Norman Vincent Peale wrote,
A true apology is more than just acknowledgement of a mistake. It is recognition that something you have said or done has damaged a relationship and that you care enough about the relationship to want it repaired and restored.
Listen: Chris Witts presents Morning Devotions.
If you’ve been to a circus you might have seen elephants, these huge and yet gentle animals. They have so much power and strength, and yet in training them, as babies, they teach them in a rather strange way. Chains are placed around their neck and the other end is attached to a stake, driven into the ground. They pull and yank and strain and struggle, but the chain is too strong, the stake is too strong.
One day they give up, having learned that they cannot pull free, and from that day forward they can be ‘chained’ with a slender rope. When this enormous animal feels any resistance, though it has the strength to pull the whole circus tent over, it stops trying. Because it believes it cannot, it cannot. He’s been cautioned and conditioned to think he is too weak to break free, when in reality he could snap the chain when he gets older.
Listen: Chris Witts presents Morning Devotions.
Dick Innes is the founder of ACTS International, a great organisation – you may have read some of their material. In one article, he talks about the statement, “Don’t let your past determine your future”. He says:
After my father died, quite a few years ago, having come from a very dysfunctional family background, I realised that I still had some unfinished business with him and, as I obviously couldn’t talk to him in person, I decided to visit his gravesite. I took a pen and notebook with me so I could write about my feelings.
Listen: Chris Witts presents Morning Devotions.
It’s a sad fact of life that we don’t always have the answers. Think of the times you have asked the question,
Why did this happen to me or my friends? People become very angry and upset at the unfairness of situations in the world, or of bad things that happen to them. Bad news can come at any time, and often we are not ready for it.
I’ve spoken before on this segment about the popular book
When Bad Things Happen to Good People written by Rabbi Kushner. It was an instant bestseller which reflects what many people do ponder a yearning and searching for answers, answers that satisfy. A young lady who had suffered a terrible accident said, “One of the first things you learn is that some questions don’t have answers”.
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