The Coolest Answers

I like to observe the way seasoned speakers talk and answer questions – their choice of words, techniques used and the way they deliver the message never fails to impress me. I can go on and on just savouring the honey that spills out of their mouth. For me, very few things are more attractive than skills with words.

One of the many reasons I admire Jesus, is his style of speaking. He was the most controversial figure of his times (as he still is today).

He was a revolutionist, a charismatic leader & a persuasive speaker.

He made very audacious claims about himself, which made opposers continually look for ways to bring him down before his chosen time. Yet, he skillfully answered questions with questions, and completely silenced and amazed them!

Let’s look at his answers when Jesus was confronted about paying taxes - Matthew 22:15-22. This is a situation where the Pharisees were trying trap and jail him.

There are a few things we can learn from the question and answers:

1) How people can try to trap us with words – “attack strategies”?
2) What to beware of – “defense strategies” ?
3) How to give the coolest answers and silence people – “counter-attack strategies”?

The Pharisees’ Question: “Teacher, we know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are. Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay taxes to Ceaser or not?”

How do people set the trap? It’s like an interesting game of chess.

Recognize the “attack” & “defense” strategies.

1) “Teacher, we know you are a man of integrity…”
They knew who he was. They acknowledged his authority as “Teacher”, as well as his character.
Attack: Know the ‘enemy.’ Begin with sweet words of praise.
Defense: Do not feel proud of yourself when people acknowledge or praise you. Don’t get carried away and start talking. Think first: why are they esteeming you in the first place?

2) “…and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.”
They knew what he taught. They set the standard and the rule there.
Attack: Know what the ‘enemy’ knows. It’s like saying, “We know what you know. We know what your answer is supposed to be. If your answer is wrong, we know it too.”

Defense: Realize that your ‘enemy’ is equipped with the necessary points to ‘fight’ you.

3) “You aren’t swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are.”
They affirmed his firm character and fearlessness, which was true. Final seal before the question!
Attack: Lead a person to give a straightforward and honest opinion by making him believe that’s what he should answer – the answer that you want! Give him his own good name to live up to!
Defense: Recognize the words your ‘enemy’ can play with, to ‘lead’ you unwittingly into giving answers you didn’t plan to.

4) “Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay taxes to Ceaser or not?
Attack: After an ‘excellent’ introduction, finally pose the question! Corner the person into a “Yes” or “No” answer, just as lawyers do - like the final move to “checkmate.”
Defense: Think before you answer. Your choice of words and the way you phrase your answer determines whether you win or lose the game. If you’re smart, you can outwit them.

Point to note:
The Pharisees knew Jesus’ idea of the truth was pointing to himself as King. They were trying to grab the words out of his own mouth, and label him as a rebel. If he directly said, “It’s right to pay taxes to Ceaser,” they might have replied, “Then, you are NOT King and God as you claim to be!’’ But obviously, they didn’t expect Jesus to give such a simple answer.

They were waiting for him to say, “It’s wrong to pay taxes to Caeser!” If Jesus had said that, then these smart alecks would have been overjoyed to reply: “You are speaking against the Law of God which teaches us to submit to authority. You are anti-government - a rebel!”
They would have grabbed the chance to jail him!

But how did Jesus answer and silence them?

Jesus’ Answer: You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax. Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?

Jesus knew their intention. He exposed it.

“Counter-attack” strategies:

Technique 1: Know your ‘enemy’. Know his intention and expose it.

Technique 2: Be on the offense instead of defense. Command the ‘enemy’ instead of submitting to the question. In this case, Jesus asked for a coin, and the ‘enemy’ brought it (Notice: The enemy began the attack by asking a question, but then submitted to Jesus’ instruction to bring a coin. This puts Jesus on the lead.)

Technique 3: Answer by asking back questions. This puts you on the offense. Make the ‘enemy’ answer his own question. Jesus asked whose portrait & inscription was on the coin. They themselves answered “Caeser.”

Technique 4: Conclude based on the “enemy’s” own answer.

Jesus’ final answer: “Give to Caeser what is Caeser’s, and to God what is God’s.” (This is one of my favorite quotes in the whole Bible!)

What could they have possibly answered to that? Jesus didn’t say anything about himself. Neither did he say anything about Caeser. Instead, he acknowledged Caesar’s authority on earth without denying His own – totally in line with God’s law.

He SAID who he is WITHOUT saying it!

Verse 22 tells us that the Pharisees were amazed; they left him and went away!

Now, how cool is that?

Practical tips: Apply these strategies during interview or investigation sessions. Amazing results!

-JJ-

From the “Adventures of Sinbad”, to modern day

I hardly watch television, and it happens to be that the only show I seem to be watching when the chance permits is “The Adventures of Sinbad.” The famous tale brought to life in a cartoon - depicting the adventures of a sailor named Sinbad; across oceans, into lost worlds of Greek gods and evil powers.

While I was watching, I was thinking a little more seriously about Greek mythology. Greeks myths have many stories in common with the Bible. The characters differ and there’s a twist to the tale, but the stories definitely share some similarities (eg: story of the fall of mankind, the Great Flood etc…you can google it).

I believe that the events accounted for in the Bible are true – from the beginning of mankind to the end.

So, I was wondering, “Could the Greek gods and goddesses in the myths really have walked the land?” Given their detailed descriptions, drawings and ancient texts – do humans really possess such creative imagination to come up with stories like that, without ‘inspiration’ or having seen anything close to it?

It may seem far-fetched to believe such things, but I think from this perspective:

Imagine the people of today travelling back through time, to some 2000 years ago. Imagine us showing iPads, tablets, Bluetooth and the internet; not forgetting artificial intelligence, rockets and results of cloning - to people of the past? Would they find it easy to believe or understand the ‘miracles’ and ‘powers’ of today’s world?

In the same way, when we read about the ancient days and go back through time - the miracles and powers that they experienced thousands of years ago, might truly be beyond our understanding.

What makes us think that we are ‘real’ and they were not?

Anyway, back to Greek “gods and goddesses” walking the earth with humans – I was doing an online search to find out more about their existence, especially in reference to the Bible. I found a couple of interesting theories which related their existence to the book of Genesis in the Bible.
According to the Bible, a Great Flood happened in history (there are scientific evidence for a great flood, you can google it), and events prior to the flood offer some clues.

Genesis 6: 1-4 (NIV)

1 When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. 3 Then the Lord said “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years.”
4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days – and also afterward – when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.

(you can google search “Nephilim, fallen angels” for further information)

“The daughters of men” refer to human women. “The sons of God” have been referred to as ‘’fallen angels” – or angels from heaven, who had been cast to hell because they rebelled against God. They were evil. Fallen angels that were cast to hell are also known as demons. Many theories suggest that this is the Nephilim.

Fallen angels are deemed as not ordinary humans. They possess abilities and physical attributes way beyond normal. Assuming they really existed, if they married human women and had children, it isn’t surprising at all that the kids were “superhuman”! Greek myths portray superhuman characters with have half human and half animal bodies, as well as humans possessing extraordinary physical strength and abilities, with extra body parts. I believe these beings would have been pretty impressive, if they were, because people built statues, shrines and temples to worship these superhumans as gods and goddesses – as heroes.

The Bible does say they were heroes of old, men of renown.

I did ask myself, “Where are they now, if they really existed before? Well, we do not see those mythical characters around anymore - but their artifacts, symbolism and temples stand to tell a story.

And there was the Great Flood to wipe out all the living creatures at that time.

Genesis 6: 5-8
5 The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6 The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. 7 So the LORD said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth – men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air – for I am grieved that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favour in the eyes of the LORD.

Genesis 7:23-24
23 Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; men and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds of the air were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark. 24 The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days.

So, according this account, we do not see the Nephilim and human hybrids anymore because they were all destroyed in the flood. Only Noah and those on the ark were saved. The rest of humankind started existing after the Great Flood, from the time of Noah.

Now, whenever I watch the “Adventures of Sinbad,” I ask myself, “Could these things have really happened? Could these mythical characters be those heroes of old? The children of Nephilim? Could they have really walked the earth together with humans?

Personally, I don’t know for sure. Perhaps exaggeration and twisting of tales are involved in the myths, but it could be possible to a certain extent. To me, it makes sense, from a Biblical point of view.

If the history of the world in Genesis, is true; then everything else that’s related can be explained from its context – from the “Adventures of Sinbad” to modern day.

JJ

Why is the world in such a state?

A lot of major happenings are going on in different countries of the world. Things seem to be worsening, day after day – wars, riots, famines, starvation, natural disasters and the list goes on.
Sometimes, it makes us wonder, “Is there a God? If He is there, how could He allow such suffering? Isn’t He listening? If He has the power to change things, why isn’t He doing it?

I am reminded of this verse in the Bible.

2 Chronicles 7:14
King James Bible
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

I am sure God has the power to change the state of affairs in one moment, but do we fulfill His criteria, to allow Him to do that?

The God of justice has rules, and doesn't change them to please people.

The way I see it, we're not obeying the rules of our Creator. Instead, we're putting away His Word, altering the Bible to suit us, and creating solutions that do not include Him at all.

Humans are carrying on with wicked and evil ways. We have grown proud and have participated in a revolt against our Creator. We think we are greater than God, if not equal. Do we even respect the 10 Commandments anymore?

The people in power are creating their own rules and solutions, which will only make them stronger, and the poor poorer.

...and here we are, lamenting and wondering, why isn't God doing anything!


We have chosen to disobey God; to do it our own way. Yet, when things go wrong, we put all the blame on God and say He doesn’t care. Is this fair? Some say, God is cruel and heartless to allow human suffering. Is this true?

Try to look at it from this perspective.

If you work for an organization - as an employee - you observe and respect the rules and regulations that have been set. If you violate them, there are consequences – and that can include being fired. Can you say that the organization is heartless to take action against you when you break the rules?

If you continually break the rules, and no action is taken against you – how does that reflect on your boss?

Likewise, we live in a world that has been created by God. The rules have been laid out. If we humans violate the commandments and mess things up, don’t we deserve to pay the price? Isn't discipline needed for correction?

If God magically mends things every time we screw up, without us having to do anything about it – what will it say about Him?

Even then, through His loving-kindness, we have not been destroyed completely as we deserve. Lightning doesn’t strike us dead every time we disobey. We are given chances after chances. Shouldn’t we be grateful?

Humans were created to rule over the earth. Genesis 1:26 says: Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.'

Has the human race done an excellent job in RULING the earth? Just look at the financial system weakening, the environment deteriorating and wars with no ending. Who is to blame?

What are God’s ways of ruling the earth? It definitely involves responsibility, integrity, justice, fairness and peace.

Have we utilized the resources given to us with those qualities, or have we ravaged our planet?

We were given a job to do, but we messed up. Yet, we are not humble enough to seek God. We carry on disobeying him. Worse still – we come up with plans that totally disregard Him!

Mankind has brought its own woes upon itself, since the very beginning in the Garden of Eden - through disobedience and sin.

If only humankind understood the rules, and honored the very first job given to us; there will be righteousness, integrity, justice, peace and harmony in all the nations.

But no, we have chosen evil ways – greed, lust and power for personal gain, over the good of mankind.

We, as a few individuals, can pray and beg God to save the world, but structural sins (sins of a community / country / world as a whole) is involved here - which needs cleansing of the entire social system.

When I sin as an individual, I confess my personal sins, I change my ways, and I am forgiven. This is sufficient for my personal salvation.

But when a community, country or the world sins collectively, is my individual prayer and change enough? Are my actions as a single person enough to save the entire world? No!

We look around and ask “WHY?” when disaster strikes here and there. Yet, we fail to realize something - the very fact that the entire human race is not destroyed in the blink of an eye for the mess we have caused, is purely by the LOVE and GRACE of GOD.

Is the God who holds the whole world in His hand, a slave to do our bidding? NO! We should learn to respect and obey Him! Just because He is slow to anger, abounding in love and is giving us time to change, we should never take it for granted.

Collectively - have we humbled ourselves? Do we pray? Do we seek God's face? Do we turn from our wicked ways?

When it comes to God versus the human race, it is easy to ask, “God, why aren’t You doing something?”

But really, we should ask, “Are we willing to do our part?”

JJ

Can You Convert a Person?

Lately someone said this to me: “Christians should not convert people and pull them to their religion.” This person made it sound like Christians were desperate to give more people the label called “Christian.” While I agree some incidents in the world may have caused such negative perception, I would have given this person a piece of my mind, if not for the social barrier.

Can Christians convert anyone?

Can YOU, for that matter, ‘convert’ anyone, in the first place?

Let’s look at the meaning of ‘convert’, to begin with.

Acts 3:19
Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; (King James Version)

The same verse in the New Living Translation:

Acts 3:19
Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. (New Living Translation)

What does it mean to ‘convert’? Simple – it means to turn to God.

What does it mean to ‘repent’?

‘Repent’ is a translation of the Greek word "metanoeo" which means "change your mind".

The Holy Bible makes it clear that salvation is based on a person believing in Jesus Christ. But, in John 3:18-21, Jesus says that it is not possible to believe in Him unless we first of all repent.

In other words, ‘convert’ means to change your mind to believe in Jesus and turn to God.

Can ANYONE make you do that?

No! Nobody can ever MAKE you change your mind to believe something that you don’t want to. No one can ever ‘convert’ you.

Only YOU can DECIDE to CHANGE YOUR MIND.

The most, a Christian, or ANYONE for that matter, can do - is to share a personal testimony or a story. They can explain Bible verses to share knowledge. But they can never force you to believe, change your mind or follow Jesus.

Some people say they will ‘convert’ because they love someone who is a Christian, in order to get married - when in fact, they never changed their mind, nor believed.

Is this ‘conversion’?

No, it isn’t! This is pure hypocrisy and wearing the term ‘Christian’ will be nothing but an insult to the faith.

Let’s say you get married to a person, and you call yourself her husband / wife. Yet, 99.9% of the time, you are thinking about and hanging around your ex-lovers. You go everywhere with your ex-lovers and do all the things you loved to do, together. You enjoy great intimacy with those who are not your spouse. Your spouse is just a ‘legal label.’

Just because you label yourself as someone’s husband or wife, it doesn’t really make you one.

This is a great UNFAITHFULNESS.

The Bible uses a very harsh word for such unfaithfulness – When it comes to worshipping God, the Bible tells us not to be unfaithful like prostitutes, who go around with many different men.

If you say you love God, be ‘married’ to him; follow Him and no other. If you don’t want to be faithful, why get ‘married’ in the first place?

Why? Because GOD describes HIMSELF as the HUSBAND, and the CHURCH as his WIFE. It is a sacred and loving relationship.

Who is the ‘church’? It’s not a building. The church refers to every individual who has truly ‘converted’ to Christ.

If we call ourselves Christians, yet go on with life with our old and sinful ways, this is called unfaithfulness. Why? Because as the ‘wife’, we are not faithful to our ‘husband’.

Even in everyday life, can ANYONE force you to be faithful to your spouse – in your heart, mind and actions?

NO! You decide to be FAITHFUL by choice.

Likewise, can anyone force you to follow God and be faithful to Him?

NO! You make that decision by you OWN CHOICE.

Jesus never forced anyone to follow Him, yet throngs of people wanted to be around Him. He only told and showed them who He is. People believed by choice. Even when Jesus picked his disciples, they needed no convincing.

Jesus simply said, “Follow me…”

In that one moment, they left everything behind and followed him. In fact, they were even willing to die for their allegiance to Him, after Jesus was crucified.

Following Christ is not easy to live. It may cause you to be ridiculed by the world, or even persecuted for your faith. It tells you to live differently when the world says "it's ok". It tells you to love even when people harm you. It teaches you to forgive even when others hurt you. It requires sacrifice, and NO ONE can ever force you to do that.

You can never ‘convert’ a person, nor can anyone ‘convert’ you.

It’s got to be your own choice, from your heart.

-JJ-

How to Forgive?

God says, “I--yes, I alone--will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again.” Isaiah 43:25, The Bible.

Has anyone ever hurt you so badly that you feel that you could never fully forgive?
It could be a boss who humiliated you or a colleague who disrespected you.
It may have been a lover who walked out on you, or a friend who betrayed you.
It could be a spouse who cheated on you, or a stranger who offended you.
It might be a trusted person who sexually abused you, or a family member who took advantage of you.

Whoever it may be, the hurt lingers on for a long time and the scars remain as a memory forever.

The question is, can we forgive?

Humanly speaking, I believe we can never forget something traumatic in our lives, which makes it very difficult to forgive.
There are wise words which say, “To heal another, forgive yourself first.”

But how do we do that, when we ourselves are flawed? We can forgive by choice, but WE can never fully forgive, because we will definitely think of their mistakes again!

Only GOD can fully forgive and never think of the mistakes again.
Why? Because we are all equal sinners, saved by grace. Only GOD is sinless.

How can we learn how to forgive?

It is only by imitating the ONE PERSON who CAN FULLY FORGIVE.
To learn to FORGIVE, we need to learn from GOD.

He always existed since the beginning. He came to the earth through virgin birth. He lived a 100% sinless life –a perfect example to us. He sacrificed His life on the cross. He paid with His own blood for our sins - because ALL of us were sinners and have caused God great anger! This person is none other than Jesus Christ.

The ONLY WAY to save us from God’s JUDGEMENT, was FORGIVENESS!

The only way to save us from eternal punishment in hell is by forgiving us.

Look at it this way.

When someone hurts us, WE feel that WE have the right to be angry and upset.
Why? Because WE are ‘playing God’.
Do you get what I mean?

Being created by God, we have His attributes of goodness, and righteous anger towards wrongdoings. God said, “Let us make man in our image and likeness...” (Genesis 1:26). We have the imprint of our Father in heaven. To a large extent, WE know GOOD from bad, even if we are not religious.

When someone does something bad to us, WE wear the hat of GOD, sit down on our throne and start passing the judgment!

Like a judge looking at the criminal, WE say, “On such and such a day, time and year, YOU are guilty of doing this and this to ME. For this, your punishment is, “I’ll never talk to you again, I will not see your face at all cost, I will hate you every time I think of it, I will revenge when I have the chance. I will give you poor work evaluation if I am your boss. I will talk behind your back and let the whole world know about your sins, etc…”

The only way for this ‘criminal’ to escape YOUR JUDGEMENT is through YOUR FORGIVESS.

Forgiveness happens when you say, “Yes, you are guilty of this crime, but I forgive you. You escape the punishment. You are free!”

We really take after our Father in Heaven – GOD.

God operates on the same concept. In Romans 6:23, it is written, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus…” The death referred to here is physical and spiritual death. We die in our earthly bodies, and after that a sinner’s spirit is condemned to hell. We deserved this punishment. Death is the repayment for sins.

When God created humankind, He made us perfect in every way. He intended for us to be sinless to enjoy His company. Yet, we humans choose to disobey and follow after evil -

Read the book of Genesis in the Bible:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+1&version=NIV

Being the gentleman that He is, God never forces us to follow Him. He gives us free will.

When God looks down at you and me from His throne in heaven, He has a huge record of ALL our wrongdoings since we were born. ALL of us have sinned.

We might think, “I am not a rapist, a murderer or a thief… I just live my life, I don’t hurt others…I am not such a bad sinner…Those in the prisons are sinners, not me.”

But that’s not how God sees us – whether we are guilty of killing someone, sleeping around like a prostitute, simply telling a lie, gossiping about someone or just having lewd imaginations of someone who is not your spouse – God sees inside our heart and mind. Sin is sin - doesn’t matter if it’s big or small.

God’s standards are super high, and He has a right to that because He is sinless. Unlike us, who set high standards for others to comply to, while we are still sinners. Truly, we deserve to ‘go to hell!”

Yet, GOD CHOSE to FORGIVE us from His anger and punishment – Jesus paid it all on the cross.

Nothing was required from you and me, except to BELIEVE and ACCEPT the FORGIVENESS.

The only way for us to ESCAPE GOD’S JUDGEMENT is THROUGH HIS FORGIVENESS.

We have a great privilege to ACCEPT His gift of forgiveness, and enjoy His company, both on earth and in the life here after.

When you understand that you are just as sinful as the one who hurt you, then you will realize that you need forgiveness as much as the other person does.

When you realize just how much you have been forgiven by God, and you accept that forgiveness, then you can freely forgive.

Because when God’s love flows in and through you – it is His LOVE that FORGIVES. Not your sinful self. Only GOD’s LOVE which is PERFECT can change your tears of resentment and pain into joy.

JESUS said, in Matthew 10:8:
“….Freely you have received, freely give.”


*If you believe that Jesus Christ died for your sins, SAY this with your mouth, and BELIEVE in your heart.

“Dear Jesus, I confess I am a sinner. I believe You died on the cross to pay for my sins. Please forgive me. I accept your forgiveness. Thank You for loving me in spite of all my wrongdoings. I am a child of God. In the same way, I forgive everyone who has hurt me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

Be assured that you are forgiven! :) Now, for God’s sake, freely forgive! :)

By JJ.

Resentment and Apologies

Why do we get upset or burn with anger? Why does resentment force its way out of our mouths and into our gestures?

Why do some people find it excruciatingly difficult to utter the word ‘sorry’ after all is said and done?

Why do some of us find it hard to let go?

The other day, I was traveling for a couple of hours, and many memories came flashing across my mind, throughout the journey.

I have to admit, it was a quite a challenge to keep my heart at ease after recalling those unpleasant thoughts.

For some reason, every hurting word and action that people have said or done towards me, kept playing very vividly in my head.

I remembered everything they said or did, intentionally or unintentionally. Not that I put in effort to remember them, I just do.

I recalled specifically one person who caused me a lot of fear and tears. His final words, before I ever saw him again, rang clearly in my ears.

“I am sorry FOR you, little girl,” he said.

If he had a low command of English, I could overlook it. But he knew very well exactly what he said.

Anger burned within as I remembered how stupid I was to allow someone to insult me - when in fact, he should have said, “I am sorry TO you.”

Being too quiet by nature, I gave him the opportunity to treat me in that manner. The more I thought about it, the more I became enraged with myself, than I was towards him.

I will always remember him as the guy who never apologized.

Could I call it resentment? I suppose so.

In my heart, I forgive him. If I accidentally run into him, I believe I would speak like nothing ever happened. I could not possibly go back to the past and say, “You said this and that to me. You treated me with disrespect. I was quiet & you stepped on me. I demand an apology!”

No, I could never do that! I am not one who will throw a temper or tell someone off to their face. I would not demand an apology. If people are wrong, they should realize it. I might hint indirectly a couple of times. I give them time, chance after chance, and accept all the temper they throw at me. I will even take the first move to apologize….

But when I reach a certain point, I just make up my mind to let go of the memory and the person as well.

Yet, it’s not easy to forget. Even after many years, I still remember, “You NEVER said SORRY.”

Being a Christian, I have no choice but to LOVE and FORGIVE. It’s a commandment of Christ. So sometimes when I remember, I say to myself, “Jesus, I forgive him.”

Forgiving is not easy. It’s even more difficult to say ‘’I forgive you” to someone’s face.

In fact, it is as difficult as saying ‘sorry’ itself.

Why is an apology so important?

Because, this is what SORRY really says:

1) I acknowledge I hurt your feelings.
2) I know I make mistakes, and I’m brave enough to admit it.
3) I might be right in my own eyes, but in fact, I may be wrong.
4) I am humble.
5) I love you more than my ego.
6) I know I can never take back my words or actions – I hope this word heals the pain & helps you to forgive me.
7) I cannot turn back time, but this word says I’ll try to avoid this mistake in the future.

I have been hurt by many people in my life (just as I may have hurt others), and a few have caused a lot more pain than mere words.

Yet, I consider some of them the closest friends I’ve ever had.

How is that?

Because of the magic word, “SORRY,” from the heart.

There really is something magical about a sincere apology. It helps blur the painful memories. Even if the hurt emerges, that one moment of apology wipes it all away.

I will remember, “He / she said SORRY from the heart,” and that brings a smile. It helps me forgive.

It’s a fact of life that some people who owe us apologies may never, ever say ‘sorry.’ It’s equally true that we may also never say sorry to those we have hurt.

Some may forgive us without an apology, while others may hold a grudge even after we say ‘sorry.’

All of us are equal sinners. Only the answers to these questions differentiate us:

1) Have you asked for forgiveness?
2) Have you been forgiven?
3) Do you forgive?
4) Are you loved?
5) Do you love?

If your answer is a resounding ‘YES’ to all, you are truly blessed!

Life is too short to be angry, too brief to delay saying ‘sorry.’

Forgive while you have breath. Apologize so you have no regrets.

May we never be remembered as ‘the person who never said ‘sorry,’ or ‘the person who never forgave.’

Because, to love, is the only way to live.


1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he (God) is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Jesus said, in:

Matthew 6:9-15
This, then, is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.