Do You Hate to Admit When You’re Wrong?

“And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”

Hebrews 4:13 (ESV)

Do you ever have trouble admitting that you made a mistake? An apology may roll off your tongue, but regret isn’t what you feel. It’s what you say to appease the offended party and hopefully prevent an argument.

 I’m talking about those small assurances or genuine intentions that go a little bit awry. You probably feel badly that things didn’t go according to plan, but you tell yourself you’ll do better next time. 

 Friends, I’m familiar with this struggle. When I suggest an activity and then fail to follow through (usually because I’ve prioritized other things), my people sometimes feel frustrated or disappointed. Instead of offering a sincere apology, I often minimize the damage by spinning the situation positively, saying something like, “now we can look forward to _______ another day.” 

 If I feel attacked, I tend to deflect the spotlight away from myself by accusing my accuser of actions that threw me off. “You did _____ which caused me to ______.”

Refusing to humbly admit our mistakes or accept blame for something that failed under our watch hurts our relationships with other people. Even more so, it hurts our relationship with God. There is a name for this behavior. It’s called pride. 

 I thought pride was expressed by bragging about accomplishments or displaying an over inflated degree of confidence. That’s a fair assessment, but there is another sign of pride that’s equally damaging but far more subtle. It can be identified by feeling reluctant to apologize or accept blame for a mistake.

 Interestingly, pride is a coping mechanism to mask what lies in our souls, a fear that we don’t measure up. People who struggle with pride are driven by feeling insecure.

 Pride hinders our relationship with God because refusing to acknowledge our shortcomings is an attempt to deny our imperfections. Whether we mean for it to or not, that implies that we are equal with God, and that robs Him of the praise and glory He deserves. We can’t be humble when we have things to hide.

 That’s why I love Hebrews 4:13, which says, “And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (ESV) 

 Reading this verse might make us squirm. It reminds us that we can’t hide from God the parts of ourselves that we want to tuck away and keep out of sight.

 But we must remember that God has many attributes. He may be all-knowing, but He is also all-loving. He sees our pride, but He also understands the feelings that trigger our pride. And He loves us regardless.

 God sees you as His beloved, His chosen creation, His treasured possession, His redeemed child, the apple of His eye. He knows your intentions and he understands your behavior.

We can be real with God because, in his love, we are redeemed by God.

 Pride isn’t pretty. It’s actually pretty awful. It hurts our relationships and keeps us from becoming who we were created to be. Remembering His love toward us is step one to overcoming pride. Being humble in His presence is the next step toward fostering humility. Finally, practicing humility with God helps us become humbler with those around us. And that helps us live healthier and happier lives.

  Dear Lord, forgive me for trying to justify my actions. I’m sorry for _________. Show me you still love me even though I’m prideful. I need your strength to apologize to those I’ve hurt, because I really want to pretend it never happened. Help me to please you by being humble, Jesus. In your name I pray, Amen