Ask Your Preacher - Archives

Ask Your Preacher - Archives

“I'm Sorry-ish”

Categories: GOD, RELATIONSHIPS, WITH MANKIND

[This question is a follow-up to “A Thanksgiving To Remember”]

Why is it so important to apologize to others?  I know it is important to apologize to God… but other people when they do you wrong also?  Why can't others just forget about it, sweep it under a rug so to speak?

Sincerely,
Get Over It

Dear Get Over It,

It is important because God says it is important (Lk 17:4).  Confessing our sins to one another is part of the growth process that God expects us to go through (Jas 5:16).  Heb 10:24 says that we need to consider one another… and that is part of what apologizing is.  An apology shows that you have considered the feelings of the other person after you have wronged them.  Admitting we are wrong is a sign of maturity and humility (Matt 23:12).  Love seeks the benefit of the other person (1 Cor 13:5) – apologizing helps those we have hurt to heal.