Sorry, please forgive me (2)

Blessed Chinese New Year!

We were talking about our children’s pride in the last session. Their pride may cause them to lose friends and favors if not handled properly.

Humility is hard to be taught. However, it can be caught. An incident happened last week …..

“I’ve had it, children! We are not going out. You guys will stay home without lunch today. You cannot obey simple instructions even after many reminders!” This hit me so badly that I had an instant migraine. I stomped into my room and tried to rest. (As if, we can…ha..ha….)

Did I make a booboo? Yelling at them like a mad woman….it’s simply crazy. My pride says that don’t back out on your words. My tummy says I need to eat too!! 15 minutes passed. My dear daughter came in and apologized, followed by the boys. That eased my anger quite a bit.
I got up and spoke calmly, “I’m sorry for being crazy just now. I shouldn’t have YELLED at you. Please forgive me.” They accepted it. I continued, “I need you to ask for my forgiveness too. “ They did. And so, we have reconciled.

Reconciliation begins when repentance is followed by forgiveness.

Proverbs 29:23 “A man’s pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirits gains honor. “

Sorry, please forgive me (1)

Sorieeee… (with a drag and eyes rolled)
Sorrilah….(short and quick, followed by eyes rolled)
So……ri (followed by eyes rolled)

Notice that every sorry is accompanied with eyes rolled. Does that child mean what he or she say? Certainly not! Do you get these kinds of responses often? Well, I do. It is lackadaisical and disturbing.

Do you behave the similar manner to your spouse as your children do to you? Honestly I do. Childish? Yes! Immatured? Yes! At the end of any incident, that kind of sorry will not reconcile us with anyone.

Self pride is the main culprit. Pride causes us to lose face if we admit our mistakes. Therefore, it takes big courage to apologize sincerely. It takes bigger courage to ask for forgiveness. It takes the biggest courage to be rejected of forgiveness.

In the next episode, we will work on how we could help our children cope with this pride.