“I was wrong.” Those are three words that just do not flow off our tongues very well. They seem to get stuck in our throat. When we do say them, we are often asked to repeat them since it comes as such a shock or surprise to some people. The other person wants to hear those words again, to make sure they heard correctly. But why are they such difficult words to say? I would guess that we do not want to be wrong or in the wrong. Each of us wants to be right. And when we are not right, we at least want to justify our reason and be self-righteous.
But have you ever noticed a pattern when our own self must be right all the time? That attitude disrupts every relationship we have – between spouses, between children, between friends, between family members. We hate to admit, “I was wrong” and will self-justify. Notice that reflection on self. The Lord calls that inner focus on self as sin. And sin breaks relationships. We need to change the attitude of self-righteousness, or we just continue to contribute to the problem of the broken relationship. It does not bring us closer to the other, in fact it separates us from the other. So, what does God say about this problem?
God points out in 1 John 1:8-10 the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.
If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just, forgives us our sins and cleanses us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.
Ahh. Confession. Admitting that we have done something wrong, said something wrong, thought wrongly or have left something undone, unsaid, or did not think before acting that gets each of us into trouble. We may not even understand what the problem is or how we have contributed to the problem since we did not even see it as a problem. But suddenly, we are in a conflict, and we need to humbly find how and where the misunderstanding came in and ask for forgiveness.
“I was wrong.” “Please forgive me.” Realizing we have wronged another and therefore God also, we ask for that forgiveness so that the relationship may have a future. Forgiveness is an act of God. Our heavenly Father so loves you that he sent Jesus to take all the blame for your wrongdoing, to suffer the consequences of your sin and wrongs, and to give you his own righteousness. God says in Isiah 43:25 that he forgives for his own sake. And Psalm 103:12 tells us that God removes your sin as far as the east is from the west and remembers it no more.
If we want to continue to have strong relationships with our spouse, children, friends, family, co-workers, and yes, God, we need to confess when we are wrong. And then to ask for forgiveness. And to receive that forgiveness as if from God himself in Christ Jesus. The beauty of forgiveness is that it binds us to Jesus and his word lives in us and works in us and flows out of us as a way of life. Like breathing, forgiveness in Jesus is a way of life. It keeps us alive and strong in Him.
We would like to encourage you to be both blessed and to be a blessing by being involved in a local church. You have many options because God is active throughout our communities.
The writers are pastors at Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jackson Center.
