Apologizing to God

Going into 2015, I was thinking about how good God has been to my family for the last several years and 2014 was the best one by far. I have come to the realization that God doesn't bless me and my family because we perform in some way that makes him obligatory to us; he chooses to bless my family because he loves us. Because I sometimes over-analyze things, I started thinking a lot about why the last couple of years have been better than others and Pastor's sermon this morning got me to thinking even more. You see, there was a period of time when I didn't live my life in a way that was totally pleasing to God and that may have very well have been a limiting factor in what God was able to do for my family. As the leader of my home, when I make a mistake, it affects my entire family.

Most of the great leaders in Scripture at some time in their lives made mistakes. For instance: When Abraham should have waited for God to give him a son, he took matters into his own hands; Moses, in trying to help his people, ran ahead of the Lord and killed the Egyptian. Later, against the command of God, he struck the rock in his anger; When David should have been out in the field of battle, he stayed home and committed adultery with Bathsheba and then plotted the murder of her husband; Peter, in spite of his self-confidence and his great boast, denied Christ, as did the rest of the disciples who fled the night of Christ’s arrest. There is a fundamental principle here. Sometimes God allows us to make mistakes before he brings about success with us. Our mistakes are often rungs on the ladder of growth—if we will learn from our mistakes rather than grovel in the dirt.

But I also learned this over the past couple of years about God’s grace and our mistakes. God expects us to acknowledge our mistakes and don’t try to hide behind excuses. When we sin, we need to confess our sins to God and then learn from our mistakes. We need to put safeguards in place to prevent the same or like mistakes from taking place again. Lastly, we need to put the mistake behind us and move ahead.

Because I am human, I continue to make mistakes. When I do, I have to correct them as best as is humanly possible, ask God and those whom I have hurt for forgiveness, and then move on. I believe that is why God has allowed us to prosper over the last couple of years; because I acknowledge my mistakes, attempt to correct them and then move on.

Where I am going with this? Sometimes families and organizations, including Churches, limit the blessings that God wants to bestow upon them because they do things that God finds offensive. Sure, God will continue to bless their endeavors, but he is unwilling to fully bestow his greatest blessings upon those organizations because there is ongoing and unresolved "sin." Like I stated earlier, when I make mistakes it affects my entire family and when organizational leaders make mistakes, it affects the entire organization and the blessings that God truly wants to bestow upon that organization. So, if you're the leader of your own family or the leader of an organization and you want to receive the greatest blessings from God, acknowledge any mistakes you may have made, apologize to those hurt (and if the mistake was made publicly, apologize publicly) and then move on.