I’m sorry

“SIT DOWN NOW, AND DON’T GET UP UNITL I TELL YOU!”

My voice thundered from the back of my throat, trying to drown out the hysterical crying of my two year old.

My arm shot across my body, pointing towards the couch as I bent down to scrape the little one off the floor. The neighbors probably thought a limb had been severed from her body. She’d tripped over a tricycle, inconveniently parked in the middle of the living room, while rushing to escape the growling jaguar pursuing her.

It was an accident. No foul play involved.

But the problem was a lack of listening. I’d asked her a dozen times to put her shoes on, to stop chasing her sister, to quit interfering with my attempts to dress the little one so we could leave.

For Bible Study. Of all places.

I knew I shouldn’t have yelled. Every time I do, conviction knocks me over me like a tidal wave. Was she being disobedient? Yes. In more ways than listed. But would I stand by and let anyone else speak to my child in such a manner? Would I dare speak to another’s child in the same tone?

Our eyes locked. The same hardness in mine reflected back in hers. “I’m sorry I yelled. It was wrong of me to do that, and I shouldn’t have.”

Her lip quivered and tears danced on the rims of her lower lash line. She didn’t apologize, but I knew she was sorry. And I was, too.

Extremely sorry.

It’s a thousand times easier to say “I love you,” than, “I’m sorry.” I tell my children I love them at least a dozen times throughout the day, and yet the moment I need to apologize, the words pridefully lodge themselves in my throat.

But more often than not, a sincere apology is a true display of love. A picture of humility. It breaks down pride and resentment, and brings us back together in good standing and fellowship.

You may owe someone an apology, friend. And that’s okay. We all mess up. To err is human, and like Proverbs tells us, “The end of a matter is better than its beginning.”

Don’t let two simple words hold you back. No matter how long it’s been, it’s not too late.

Let’s end each matter better than the way it began.