I’m sorry!

I confess my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin.           Psalm 38:18

In 1970 the movie Love Story was released. The  story is about two college students. Ryan O’Neal played Oliver, the heir to a family fortune. Ali MacGraw played Jenny, a baker’s daughter. They fall in love and get married despite parental disapproval. The movie is a tear jerker. However, there is a famous line in the movie that gives the worst relationship advice.  Oliver gets angry when he can’t find Jenny. When he finds her he tells her   he is sorry, she says, “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.”

Worst marital advice ever. More importantly it is not biblical. Why do you think it is so hard for people to apologize? Some reasons that come to mind are pride, arrogance, and self-centeredness, are just a few. David understood that his depression was the result of the sin in his life. In Psalm 38 he humbles himself before the Lord and confesses his sin. If we want to have peace in our life we must confess our sin to God and one another. I am not suggesting that when we sin against a Holy God that we need to confess it to the church. However,   if you have sinned against a brother or sister we should seek them out and seek their forgiveness for the hurt we have caused. On the flip side when a brother or sister tells you they are sorry and asks you to forgive them you only have one option, forgiveness. Paul remined the church in Ephesus of this very important Bible truth, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you ( Eph. 4:32).”

An unforgiving Christian is a contradiction in terms, an oxymoron. To say you are a follower of Jesus Christ and yet harbor unforgiveness in your heart is a sin. I   remember hearing John Piper say once, “You are never more like God than when you forgive”. Alexander Pope wrote, “To err is human, to forgive is divine.” We reflect the nature of God in such a dramatic way when we are willing to forgive. What say you Christian, is their     unforgiveness in your heart or unrepentance?

Your shepherd,

Pastor Mark