Tell your little brother you're sorry!

 "Tell your brother that you're sorry!"

Two of our grandsons are rough and tumble toddlers.

No surprise when one runs over to us crying and pointing at the other.

"What happened, what did your brother do?"

Took my toy, pushed me, didn't let me take my turn, ate my cookie...you can add more.

They're toddlers, but we (and their parents) try to find learning moments in the midst of the usual brotherly tussles.

"Shouldn't you tell your brother that you're sorry?"

"I'm sorry."

The words pour right out of the guilty party, despite downcast eyes or a fidgety foot; more anxious to get back in action than to stand on circumstance,

"Not me, Grandson, you need to tell your brother!"

That does not come as easily. There is an unspoken reluctance, even at this toddler age, to acknowledge their behavior to the aggrieved party. Playtime even grinds to a halt if the apology is not forthcoming. "Tell your brother, you're sorry..." And sometimes we wait while that little toddler fidgets - no less than we do when it's our turn to admit we're wrong. 

The Grandparent in me holds back a smile, but I'm also transported back to my first job as a playground supervisor. We would step between two battling youngsters and break it up. "I don't know who's at fault here, but I want you both to shake hands. Go on, shake hands...now get back out there and play."

Amazing how that unilateral intervention could mend fences. Even if the actual facts of the fight hadn't been addressed, there was an inroad to reconciliation.

What can we learn about our fence mending with God?  Most of the sins we commit affect our relationship with God in addition to anyone we've hurt. "Lord, I am so sorry," I rightly pray, much more often than I would like to tell you.  "And...?" I sometimes sense God prompting me in His supernatural way...

And, I need to return to the scene of my sin. The friend I was rude to. The cousin I neglected. The neighbor I could have encouraged more. "I'm sorry, and I can do better." It's harder to say than it should be.  James 5:16   "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed"

It's healthy and healing to admit our transgressions (sins) against God's direct instructions. He needs to know that we know what he knows. Selfishness, pride, greed, laziness.  Some church's call it confession. The Bible speaks of it as being "reconciled" to God.  

2Corinthians chapter 5,

"All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation."  

That's the good news, that we will be reconciled - made right through faith in Jesus -  with God. But you still have to shake hands and look sin in the eye:

Jesus said, "Repent and believe the Good News." Mark 1;15.   Repent means: Don't just go back out and play - take a time out to tell God you're sorry, and be specific. It's more than that you believe in Him or that you have faith in Jesus. Tell Him why you're sorry for your sins - and that you understand what you are turning from. That is the "repent" part of Jesus' instructions. Repent - and believe.

We probably all have some additional reading and musing to do. "How do I know what sin is? What is a transgression against my neighbor or against God?  For what must I acknowledge that I am sorry? Why do I need reconciling to God?

God loves you!   He's provided a way to reconciliation (mercy and forgiveness) through faith in Jesus -- and he's detailed how we need best turn from things that the world believes are just fine. I encourage you to read through (and share) the Gospel's and Paul's letters of the New Testament. I'm always challenged and encouraged to do better as I read God's insights.

Now, shake hands - be reconciled -  and get back out there.   What do you believe?