Learn On Bent Knees

I have learned (am learning) a lot about life from being married.  One of the most profound is how to apologize.  When one apologizes to another you must be all in, all of you, mentally, emotionally, Spiritually and even physically must be given to the apology if forgiveness is to occur.  I occasionally do it on my knees.  It is not so much that your spouse forgives you as that you have earned the right to be forgiven because you have withheld nothing; you are all in!  In reality it isn’t you or your spouse that offers true forgiveness, the kind that cleanses not repairs; repairs are fixed brokenness, cleansings are being made new again.  True forgiveness comes from One, Who Has Earned All Rights, including the power to make you new again.  Human forgiveness can leave us a broken down mess with repairs everywhere, not whole just a whole lot of stiches, bandages and scar tissue.  True forgiveness makes us brand new and then says, “Go, and give it another shot and do better this time!”  A new beginning, a do over, a fresh start.  And that’s what He expects from us, to forgive that way, to allow the person the fresh start, not holding them accountable at the next mistake for all those past mistakes.  And there is the rub and the learning part.  I haven’t nailed either of these down, but I am learning.