The words, “I’m sorry,” are used at least half of the time without a genuine feeling. In 1934, a board game called, Sorry; became very popular. The idea was to send your opponents back to the beginning and laugh saying, “I’m sorry.” This taught children that the word sorry was meaningless. Children are many times required by adults, against their will to make up with their friends and say, “I’m sorry.” Without heart felt sentiment behind the words; they are meaningless.
We live in a society that never wants to admit any wrong doing. It is part of our human nature. Yet in my lifetime of 52 years, a major shift has occurred in the retail industry that reflects the attitudes of society. As a young man getting married in 1980, businesses stood behind their products. Finer stores offered real service. Every retailer was swift to correct anything that was not to the satisfaction of the customer. Now it seems no one even cares. It seems at times that everyone makes excuses instead of producing results.
This shift in the overall attitude of society can cost you dearly. Go with the flow of society and become numb to that which is right and wrong. Become hardened by repetitively being taking advantage of by false advertising; inferior goods that consume your hard earned dollars; be sent to start all over as in that board game by the greed of unscrupulous business people. Have you become hardened by society?
BROKEN AND CONTRITE HEART
When King David of Israel was shown his wrong, he repented with a broken and contrite heart before the LORD. He made no excuses. Taking responsibility for his actions produced true remorse that changed his ways and built character. Psalm 51 records David’s true character, an act of contrition that made him a man after God’s own heart.
Psalms 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
We can’t allow the world around us to make us hard hearted. We must be swift to see our wrongs and be genuinely moved in our hearts to do what is right. For the Christian, repentance is a way of life. The Apostle Paul said that he died daily; meaning he repented daily and yearned to walk more perfectly with the LORD. The ability to embrace true and consistent repentance; to walk with a contrite heart; requires the gift of the Holy Ghost that transforms our fleshly human nature into God’s own character. The Holy Ghost will make us a new creature; but we must embrace and enter the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is not something that we do once, it is what we become. Paul became the Gospel. He lived in repentance and died daily to sin; renewing his baptism of being buried with Christ and then was anointed with the Holy Ghost. In doing so he entered the Gospel; which is the Death, Burial and Resurrection of Jesus. We must live in the Gospel continuously. It starts with true remorse and repentance. It must be genuine! On the day of Pentecost, after hearing Peter’s first sermon, the crowd was pricked in their hearts. We must be pricked in our hearts.
Acts 2:37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
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