Food for thought.
We adults can learn from this little lesson as we teach our children how to be sincere in our mistakes and offences against others.
Here are some points that can help us resolve conflict in a godly manner.
1) Express sincere regret by saying, "I am sorry."
2) Accept responsibility by saying, "I was wrong."
3) Making restitution by saying, "What can I do to make it right?"
4) Genuinely repenting by saying, "I don't want to hurt you like this again" and making a plan so it doesn't.
5) Requesting forgiveness, "Will you forgive me?"
Other thoughts...
How do I apologize to others? Is that how I would receive apologies?
What is missing from apology?
What hurts me most about the situation?
It is important to apologize to the person and to God otherwise it is incomplete.
2 comments:
Great post...thank you.
In addition to your wonderful list, I would add that I also encourage my children to state the wrongdoing IN their apology...in other words, don't just say "I'm sorry"...but rather "I am sorry that I pushed you when we were racing so that I could cross the finish line first...I know that hurt you" In our family, this practice has helped to guard against desensitizing an apology by simply uttering "I'm sorry".
These are great!
The thing I had to learn was to allow my daughter to actually be sorry. An apology offered through clenched teeth - even if it says all the right words - is no apology at all. Sometimes I expected the apology too soon after the offense :(
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