Saying I’m Sorry is Not Enough!
It is one thing to say you’re sorry, it’s quite another to be repentant. We can all be sorry for a misdeed, especially if we have been caught. Yet being repentant, actually being sorrowful enough for the misdeed that you want to eliminate that deed from our life, is something entirely different. As I am reading through the book of 1 Samuel, I see a king who is sorry, but far from repentant:
8 David also arose afterward, went out of the cave, and called out to Saul, saying, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked behind him, David stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed down. 9 And David said to Saul: “Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Indeed David seeks your harm’? 10 Look, this day your eyes have seen that the Lord delivered you today into my hand in the cave, and someone urged me to kill you. But my eye spared you, and I said, ‘I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s anointed.’ 11 Moreover, my father, see! Yes, see the corner of your robe in my hand! For in that I cut off the corner of your robe, and did not kill you, know and see that there is neither evil nor rebellion in my hand, and I have not sinned against you. Yet you hunt my life to take it. 1 Samuel 2-11 (NKJV)
This is the scenario – David had opportunity to kill Saul, who along with thousands of men had been out to kill him. This is what Saul replied:
Saul said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” And Saul lifted up his voice and wept. 17 Then he said to David: “You are more righteous than I; for you have rewarded me with good, whereas I have rewarded you with evil. 18 And you have shown this day how you have dealt well with me; for when the Lord delivered me into your hand, you did not kill me. 19 For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him get away safely? Therefore may the Lord reward you with good for what you have done to me this day. 20 And now I know indeed that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand. 1 Samuel 24:16b-20 (NKJV)
Words spoken it seems in sincerity, but go to the Bible yourself and read 1 Samuel 26 and learn the difference between saying I’m sorry, and not really being sorry!
Maria