Is "Sorry" Enough?

"I am sorry"

Genesis 6:7

A few months ago there was a bit of a brouhaha on the cable news stations.  Some anchor (with whom I'm not familiar), on a show (with which I'm not familiar), made a comment about a politician (whom I don't remember) that was unkind. 

Now, this happens all the time of course.  News analysts and commentators are paid to give their opinions on a wide variety of topics, and often those topics are people.  And more often that not, those opinions are negative. 

But apparently this comment crossed a line.  I think it had to do with a child of the politician ~ hence the brouhaha.  Several people on several channels seemed to be talking about the incident, critical of the anchor for her comments.

I don't think it took long for the anchor to publicly apologize for her comment ~ maybe only a matter of hours.  Or maybe it was the next day; I'm not sure. 

But after the apology, that's what I kept hearing about:  the apology.  Her apology was "so sincere," "not defensive at all," "complete"...  I guess there are so many apologies now that are along the lines of "I'm sorry you took my comment the wrong way," or "I'm sorry you're so sensitive."  Reminds me of when I was a kid, and my sisters or I would apologize for something we had done to one another, and my mom would say, "Are you truly sorry, or are you just sorry you got caught?"

And I just kept thinking about the original comment.  What had made her make the comment in the first place?  What was revealed about her in that offhand "joke" (that was not received as such)?  It's good to apologize for things we shouldn't have said, but there needs to be some self-examination, too.  We don't want to admit sometimes ~ even to ourselves ~ who we are ~ but it comes out. 
We are known by our fruit.

I had to apologize to my sweet girl the other evening.  I was a little short-tempered, and took it out on her.  It was easy for me to apologize, because I truly was sorry, and because I love her so much and I knew she'd forgive me.  But then I had to look inside, and ask Him why I had reacted that way in the first place.  Selfishness, anxiety, and clearly not enough prayer.  A lack of understanding, and a missed opportunity to love my "neighbor". 

An apology to those we love is nice.  But the more needed apology is to Him, for the heart-condition that led to the sin in the first place.

~ "when you sin thus against the brethren...

  you sin against Christ" ~

1 Corinthians 8:12

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