To Help Me Repent Rightly (Part 1)
Suffering Savior,
Since one of the themes of the lenten season is repentance, help me to repent rightly. While my sins are ultimately a rebellion against you, they often involve others, too. It is one thing to express contrition to you, but can sometimes be very difficult to do so to the people I’ve hurt or wronged by my sin. “I’m sorry” can be among the most hardest words to speak. I have become quite adept at the “unapologetic apology,” which is crafted to sound like an apology without actually taking any ownership of the sin I committed.
Let my repentance include genuine contrition, which is much more than simply being sorry someone else was impacted or sorry that I got caught. No, let my own wrongful sin be the source of my contrition, and free me from the need to attach excuses or justifications to my apologies. Instead, guide me to clearly confess the sin I committed, and when I speak the words “I’m sorry” to you and others, Lord, may they always carry the weight of my genuine contrition.
In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.