“Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective” James 5:16

It is not always easy to come out and be vulnerable. Many people have developed the ‘I know what’s right, so you can’t tell me anything’ attitude. You might be one of them or you might have someone in your family that has that attitude. 

As I was growing up, i realized that having such an attitude, not only hurt those around me, but also hurt me since it will leave me lonely. I would do wrong things and try to justify my actions. Although most often it was the right things, it was in the wrong context. People would blame me for stuff, do me wrong and not say they were sorry. I wanted acknowledgement of the wrong deeds. When that didn’t come, i figured i could also get away without saying i was sorry. But thank God the Holy Spirit would not have it any other way. He would push and push my buttons till i felt too guilty and would admit to the wrong I did. That became my song over the years, and it was often from the heart. 

However, one may change who they are, but the world around them will still be the same. You might have the temptation to settle back in that old self. Just a few months ago, I had a misunderstanding with a friend. He did something wrong and as a friend, I rebuked him because I knew he knew better. He took it the wrong way and accused me of shouting at him and being difficult. I let that slip, because that was not what happened at all, but then he dug up old trespasses that had been forgiven in the past and added to the list. That took me by surprise, because I always made sure we reconciled in our arguments before moving on with life, rather than shoving things under the carpet. 

I then refused to settle our misunderstanding, because i was hurt that he could do such a thing. I waited for him to apologize, but he cut off communication for 4 weeks. I felt the voice inside of me telling me to settle the issue, because it was hurting me so much. So I called him up to straighten things out, but he would not respond to emails or answer my calls. 4 months went by, and I opened my emails one evening and found one from him. Tears came to my eyes and I cried out to God in happiness. Unknown to him, i had forgiven him the first few weeks of our misunderstanding and had just been waiting for him to apologize for what he did. 

When I saw his email, i just cried for joy, because i thought for months that i had lost a good friend over a silly misunderstanding. He apologized for the decision he made and for hurting me. That was all I wanted to hear. I love settling things and parting ways on a good note with everyone. If I hurt someone or meet an acquaintance and made them awkward, I would go back and make things right by putting them at ease. I had been praying for him and he had been praying for me. 

It is good to confess one’s sins and reconcile. Right now I am praying for certain members of my family, to let go off their pride and accept responsibility for their sins. People who never recognize their wrong doings hurt those they claim to care for more than someone from outside. How can you make things right if you are not willing to admit to the wrong you have done?