Saying “I’m Sorry,” and Meaning the Words We Speak
Did the LORD literally mean He will forgive us in a similar way, when He told us how to forgive others?
- Are we supposed to keep a record of the times the Lord forgives us?
- Are we required to count one-by-one the number of times we are called to forgive?
Will the LORD watch us, keeping count the number of times we have faithfully forgiven others?
To a person who is mathematically challenged, counting and keeping count can become a laborious endeavor. Thankfully, Jesus did not speak literally but figuratively when He told us how to forgive others. Today, rather than focusing on the forgiveness we are to offer toward others, I would like to look specifically at the way the Lord Jesus has forgiven each of us.
Imagine this scene.
It’s a bright, sunny afternoon, and the group decide to hike down to the creek. The three children play in the creek, wading and splashing, while the adults skip rocks, talk, and enjoy the heat of the sunshine. Then we hear the youngest child proclaim: “I’m sorry,” as he purposedly shoots water from his water toy onto one of the adults. Now, it’s March, so the creek water is rather cold, and the now wet adult did not wish to be wet during the hike; yet, now this adult is wet and he has heard the platitude of the child:
I’m sorry.”
Was the child sorry?
- Did the child shoot the water high into the air, knowing the spray would reach the adults, wetting them as the water fell back to the ground?
- Did the child REALLY mean that he was sorry, or was the “sorry” just a way of diverting punishment for wrongdoing?
“I am sorry.”
Do we mean what we say?
“I forgive you.”
Do we mean the words we utter to others?
When we say, “I’m sorry” to God about our sinfulness, are we truly repentant?
If we look, we can find representations of ourselves inside the pages of God’s Holy Word. Take for example Simon Peter, a man called by Jesus to become a fisher of men. Peter was a man who was changed:
- His name was changed.
- His occupation was changed.
- His way of living was changed.
- His day-to-day walk was changed.
Yet, inside his being, the old way of life often overshadowed the “newness” of life that the Lord Jesus had provided. Just like Peter, we often forget the Lord’s forgiveness of OUR SINS, but we are to recall the Lord’s forgiveness of OUR WRONGDOING.
Jesus had just been in the Garden of Gethsemane praying with His chosen ones.
Those close disciples were so tired they kept falling asleep each time Jesus withdrew to pray.
The betrayer, Judas, had led the guard into the garden, and Jesus had just been arrested and led away to the high priest’s home.
One disciple, Peter, followed to see where Jesus was taken.
This disciple followed “at a distance” (The Gospel According to Luke 22: 54b NASB)
In the courtyard, outside that home, there was a firepit where some were warming their hands and bodies.
Peter sat among those, and a servant girl saw his face in the firelight. When she did, she faintly recognized Peter and said: “This man was with Him too” (The Gospel According to Luke 22: 56b NASB).
At her accusation, Peter openly replied, “Woman, I do not know Him” (The Gospel According to Luke 22: 57b NASB).
- Then a second recognition of Peter and a denial.
- Then an hour later, a third recognition and denial came.
- With all three, Peter denied knowing Jesus.
At this juncture, I see myself revealed. Maybe you too, see yourself within this biblical narrative. Having denied knowing Jesus three times, there was a sound that pierced the air, and as the sound occurred, Peter immediately remembered His Savior’s words. See the scene.
“After about an hour had passed, another man began to insist, saying,
(The Gospel According to Luke 22: 59-62NASB)
“Certainly this man also was with Him, for he is a Galilean too.”
But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.”
Immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed.
The Lord turned and looked at Peter.
And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him,
“Before a rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times.”
And he [Peter] went out and wept bitterly.”
Jesus made eye contact with Peter, and immediately, Peter knew the magnitude of what he had done. “I’m sorry, Lord” would not repair the deep emotion Peter knew in that instance, for Jesus knew and Peter felt the sting of KNOWING how he had denied knowing his personal Savior and Lord.
- The shame Peter felt surely was heavy.
- The remorse Peter knew must have cut him deep.
- How many times will the Lord forgive?
- How many times does the Lord tell us to forgive others?
Can we say, “I’m sorry, Lord,” and get by with our denial, with our disobedience to the Lord over and over and over? Should our actions be such?
Should we feel deep remorse, so much so that our way of living CHANGES?
Has the Lord forgiven us innumerable times?
Is the Lord’s compassion longsuffering.? Yes. Yes, it is.
The biblical writer to the Hebrews wrote:
“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens,
(The Letter to the Hebrews 4: 14-16 NASB)
Jesus the Son of God,
let us hold fast our confession.
For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.
Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace,
so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Pour out our hearts. Boldly approach the throne of God. Trust that God will hear our prayers and that He will respond. Even when we are so filled with remorse that the words are inaudible, the Holy Spirit helps us in our deepest seasons of remorse. I imagine Peter felt a deep remorse at his three denials of knowing Jesus on the very day Jesus was to be crucified.
- How does one repair an ultimate ‘mess-up’ such as this?
- How does one return to the good graces of the Lord?
- How does one say, “I’m sorry, Jesus. Please forgive me” and really show that he means the words?
- How does one sin so badly and return from that place of great and deep anguish?
We do because and through the compassion, mercy, and forgiveness the Lord Jesus provides.
May we be reminded that Jesus does offer us forgiveness. Just as Jesus looked at Peter after his third denial, and just as Jesus felt compassion for His chosen one, we know that we know that we know: The Lord provides the same forgiveness to us when we mess up so badly in our sinfulness toward God. When we pray, “Lord, I am sorry,” and when we truly mean the sorrow we speak, then we are reminded through the Old Testament writer—
“The LORD bless you, and keep you;
(Numbers 6: 24-26 NASB)
The LORD make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you;
The LORD lift up His countenance on you,
And give you peace.”