I'm Sorry

Of course we weren’t arguing. Mark and I never argue. We discuss. (Sometimes heatedly.) And this discussion happened to be about whether or not I had misplaced the remote control. Can you believe that? Me. Mrs. Responsibility. I always put the remote back on the coffee table as soon as I’ve used it.

“Honey, you’re the last one who had it. I know you are, because HGTV is on. You’re the only one who watches that.”

“No I’m . . . well, okay, maybe I am. But I didn’t lose the remote!”

The entire family had been searching for that dad-blamed remote for twenty minutes. We had taken all the pillows off the sofa. We had moved the sofa. We had looked on top of, underneath, inside of, beside every possible location. The remote was gone. And the football game had already started.

We finally gave up the search. Why doesn’t anyone ever use the manual controls anymore, anyway? Irritated, Mark settled into his recliner, and I decided to vent some of my frustration pounding away at this keyboard. As I sat down at my trusty computer and moved some papers around, what do you think I found?

I quickly covered the remote with some papers, and tried to figure a way out of this mess. Maybe I could sneak it in somehow. I know! I’ll fix him a glass of tea, and as I hand it to him, I will just happen to see the remote under his recliner! But I knew it was no use. I’d been caught. Now, I needed to ’fess up.

Don’t you just hate to admit when you are wrong? I know I do. Sometimes, saying “I’m sorry” can be almost impossible! Our pride tries to convince us that no matter how wrong we have been, we were justified in our behavior. We tell ourselves that the other person should apologize to us. We leave the burden for making things right on the other guy’s doorstep.

But when we refuse to make right something that is wrong, we are foolish. And our foolish pride will not bring us the peaceful, happy lives we all desire! We can only be at peace if we live good, upright lives. One way to be good and upright is to make things right, or make amends.

We need to focus more on doing right than on being right. And it is always right to try to live peacefully with others. If someone has hurt our feelings, chances are pretty good that we have hurt them as well. If we are involved in a petty dispute that is causing stress and anger in our lives, the other person probably feels that stress and anger, too. We need to swallow our pride and make the decision to spread goodwill, keep the peace, and when necessary, admit we are wrong.

So, I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders, picked up the remote, and marched bravely into the living room. Mark’s eyes lit with humor and just a touch of that “I knew it!” expression.

But before he could speak, I told him, “This was next to my computer. I was wrong. I’m sorry!” He placed the remote control on the side table and pulled me into his lap. Well, alrightey then. Saying “I’m sorry” might not be such a bad thing after all!

Proverbs 14:9 “Fools mock at making amends for sin, but goodwill is found among the upright.”