Be Humble enough to Apologize:

When I was a kid, I remember my pastor telling stories about times when he would lose his temper, and then he would have to apologize.  He would tell stories about when he would be in various places such as an airport, and he would have a moment of frustration and would snap at an airport attendant or other worker.  Then later, he would feel conviction and would find the airport attendant to apologize.  This always struck me.  I know that everyone gets upset and sins, but really my pastor could.  No way.  I guess it was good that he at least apologized.  

The truth is that we all get upset about the things that we shouldn’t.  I know that at least, I do.  I can get mad at the smallest things.  In this particular situation, I am talking about, I was upset that my one medicine prescription was denied.   Therefore, I had to call the doctor and then drive another half hour to pick up my medicine later than I had expected.  It was such a small thing, yet it made me terribly upset.  

This was a good reminder of how to be kind in moments that are harder.  Going back to the moment where I was upset, I was a bit frustrated sounding with the pharmacist. I know it wasn’t her fault. She was not the one who didn’t double-check that the pills were being made before driving a half hour. That was me. She was not the one who didn’t answer the initial call from the doctor to reschedule a physical and therefore didn’t check my prescription refill from the doctor, that was me. It is a humbling experience to realize that we are not always perfect and that sometimes we need to remind ourselves to be kinder and to be forgiving and to be loving when we are upset.  It is always important to realize that we should, as Christians, and as responsible adults, be aware and conscious of our emotions. 

This is also something that I need to make sure to teach my students.  I work with high schoolers, who I know are not always in complete control of their emotions.  Because of this, they will sometimes lash out at people and at things that are really not deserving.  It can be hard to tame down the situation when someone is so upset.  It can be hard to get the moment back to before they freaked out.  Whenever any of my students have apologized to me, I always make sure to thank them.  I will tell them that I believe it is very important to admit they are wrong and to try to make it right.  Even in the situations when I have said something wrong to a student or gotten upset when I shouldn’t, I also try to take the time to apologize to them.  

This is something that is taught to us in the Bible. Again, there are many verses about patience. I know, because I often have to look them up in order to remind myself to have more patience. One of those verses is Ephesians 4:2 which says, “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.”   I love this verse because it first reminds us again, that we need to be humble.  No one in this world is perfect.  We have all made a mistake at some point.  That being said, we need to be willing to look at our fellow humans as creatures of God who also make mistakes.   It is important to remember that we are all flawed and need God’s grace.  This doesn’t mean we can’t disagree with a decision or an action that is made, but overall, we should have enough humility to understand and be compassionate when we and those around us are not perfect. 

Then it is a reminder to bear one another in love.  The word, bear, here has a few definitions.  This can mean carrying the weight or support, and also it can mean to be enduring.  This is a good reminder that we need to support one another, even when enduring hard situations with complete love.  Now, you may say, what does this have to do with apologizing?  I would say that this is a good reminder that even when we are enduring our hardships, and even when it feels like we need the support, we need to remind ourselves that we shouldn’t go out of our way to make someone else’s time worse. 

The last thing that I want to mention is, what if the person that you want to apologize to isn’t around?  What if they have moved on, or they are a stranger, or you have no way to contact them.  I think that it is important that we remember to pray to the Lord. We should do this even with those to whom we can apologize.  This is an opportunity to tell the Lord an apology for acting out against his own creation.  Then make sure you forgive yourself and vow to learn from the current experience.