Sunday, April 11, 2010

Humility

Put off all of these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds,
and have put on the new man. Therefore, as the elect of God, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility. . .
~Colossians 3:8-10, 12

I frequently need to ask my children to forgive me. Half as often, I actually do. Do you know why I sometimes don't apologize? Because I don't want to remind my children of what I did. I am hoping they have somehow forgotten since they appear to be over it. If I ask them to forgive me, I think, they will get upset at me all over again.
The other day, after several days as "Irritable Mommy", I realized I needed to apologize to my kids. (I needed to apologize much earlier than I actually realized it. ;) ) I gathered them all in the den, and I got down on my knees. I said I was so sorry that I'd been impatient and mean and I asked them to forgive me.
It didn't remind them of my sin. They hadn't forgotten. It endeared them to me. The rest of the day, they gathered around me, wanting to know if I needed anything, if I would play dolls with them, if I liked the flowers they collected for me.
Asking forgiveness doesn't remind others of our sin. They know. Asking forgiveness reminds others of our humanness, our vulnerability, our love for them.
Lord, help me to remember this.


5 comments:

Renee said...

BEAUTIFUL!~

Debbie Fitts said...

So very, very true. Thanks you Ginger, such a timely reminder!

debz
(momys)

Dusti said...

I've missed you on FB! This post is precious, thank you for the reminder of humility, repentance, and seeking forgiveness.


Dusti

Jeff said...

A great reminder... thanks! :)

Anonymous said...

Yes! This is SO true! I think this is one of the reasons teens often rebel--their parents have fallen from the pedastal in their minds, they see that their parent is a sinner, but they never hear their parent apologize. I wrote a post on this last year. I have been trying to get better about asking for forgiveness from my children and it makes such a big difference!

In Christ, Laura