It’s a phrase I… and probably you… learned at a young age. My mom would say “Adam, say you’re sorry” and I’d usually follow by hesitantly repeating the words (not always truly apologizing) to the brother or kid that I had done something wrong to…a person I had wronged in some way, shape, or form… sometimes worse or more personal than the next.

Looking back…at high school, college, and even last week… there are things I’ve needed to say “I’m sorry” for… and people I’ve needed to say “I’m sorry” to...  my parents… roommates… past relationships… random strangers… close friends… classmates… coworkers… relatives… my spouse… my son…  There are probably even lists… of things that I’ve said and done that I can’t even remember… or simply never even knew about… that I need to say “I’m sorry” for…

I’m sorry.

When I say it… I’m recognizing… to myself and to the other person that I have in fact done something wrong…sometimes it’s not always easy to acknowledge… when I was younger with an older brother…when it’s a bit embarrassing… to a person I’d rather not… sometimes it can be crazy humbling.    

I’m sorry.  

If it’s a heartfelt apology… I actually feel compassion for the other person… I truly feel bad…regretful…for what I’ve done… for any pain, harm, or discomfort that I may have caused another person…

I’m sorry.

As a believer… a follower of Christ…a Christian… I believe…or better yet, I should know… that I’ve done and said things…that are not pleasing to the Lord… unlike my mom, buddy, coworker, neighbor, wife, kid, and random acquaintance who are far from perfect… I’ve wronged a perfect God… one that’s “set apart”… “holy”… “awesome”… and He’s the “Creator”… “Lifegiver”… and the “King of Kings”…   “Wow Adam… way to go…nice work getting on His bad side huh?”

True… I would never want to underestimate… or minimize the wrong I’ve done… but what’s crazy…really crazy…  is that unlike our imperfect parents, buddies, coworkers, neighbors, spouses, and kids who may not always “forgive and forget”… for some reason, He ALWAYS forgives us… IF we ask for forgiveness…

I was reading Psalm 130 the other day and I came across this…

Psalm 130:3-4
 3 If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins,
       O Lord, who could stand?
 4 But with you there is forgiveness…

How could this be?  I felt relieved…  My heart leaped… I could breath... a fella named Wesley explained it by saying “my chains fell off, my heart was free”.   He… Christ… (again the King, the Creator, Da Man) would forgive me of my stupidity in college… the way I treated so and so…  the terrible thing no one knows about… the way I walked away from Him…

Lord, I’m sorry.

We’re forgiven… by truly realizing that we’ve done something wrong… some authors say “grieving our wrong”… then we acknowledge it… to our high priest… Jesus Christ… (note: it always helps me to verbalize it…so my mouth has spoke it and my ears have heard it)… then if we understand at our depth that Christ has died and risen…

We are freed… cleared… forgiven…

I’ve been following the Lord since the fall of 78 (ok it was the summer of 99) and I’m still at a loss of understanding this… actually each year that I follow the Lord… I understand less of God’s forgiveness… it’s unexplainable… Just thinking about it brings me into a state of worship.

Lord… we come before you as imperfect people… who screw up…  Some of us may have others who we need to say “I’m sorry” to… help us to... for our sake and theirs... it may not be easy to admit… but we can’t stop thinking about it… it may be weighing on some hearts…

Also... so often, we (I know I do) forget that we’ve also wronged You Lord… we’ve lived our day…week…year… as if we were You… a god.  Others of us, may feel so far from You that it seems impossible to think of speaking with You.  Then we come across Psalm 130… understanding that we would be unable to be in your presence if you held on to our wrongs… yet, incomprehensibly You offer us forgiveness… for this we are thankful… we are freed…  we stand before You.  We give you our everything... our hearts. Amen.