Nothing says “sorry” like making amends

There’s little wonder that everything in conflict swings on justice.  If there’s one way we either feel at peace or betrayed or anything in between these two, it’s that we’re affected greatly in the way we treat others and by how others treat us.

One thing that people never realise about the “sorry” of making amends is the power in it.  It’s not until we experience the power in the life that consistently makes amends that we’re convinced it’s the only way to live.

Think about it from this viewpoint:

Someone says sorry to you but it’s not clear to you that they understand how they hurt you or the impact for you.  Or they’re sorry but they’re not prepared to wear the outflowing consequences for their actions.  Or their “sorry” sees no need to make the wrong they did right again in some meaningful way.  Or perhaps their lack of sincerity, and their ifs, buts, and maybes, leave you more incensed than ever.

When these things occur, it’s so obvious that the person doesn’t have the intent of making amends.

In a world that increasingly expects the word “sorry” to be evidenced in changed behaviour, making amends is proof the person really understands what they did, how it affected you, and what’s required to remediate the situation.

This is because making amends is about the other person; it’s about the person who has been wronged, and their right to have a say in what justice looks like.

When someone makes amends, the justice we feel is immense, and it goes some way to restoring our faith in a humanity that can otherwise send us into disillusionment.  What occurs is the reverse of the “baggage” we tend to pick up along life’s way when unresolved conflicts, stresses, losses, and situations we can’t change pile up one on top of the others.

The person who makes amends can access a power that others cannot and will not know unless they’ve been there.  A life of making amends is truly the authentic Christian journey, but not all people of faith live this way nor do all people of faith experience the power and peace that amends provides.

Being an instrument of justice and peace is an incredible gift not only for oneself, but especially for others too.

Nothing says “sorry” like making amends because it’s so action oriented.  We can see the results.  We can see the courage and humility it takes for someone to take the risk to cross the room.  They didn’t need to do it.  Nobody could force them.  But they did it anyway.  It tells us where their hearts are at.

It’s the heart of a person that causes them to seek to make amends, just as it’s in the heart of a person to be sorry... or not!

It makes all the difference in the world for a person who’s been betrayed to hear “sorry” through the making of amends from the person who did the hurt.  What’s communicated is, “I’m sorry enough to make this right for you, and my commitment to making amends means I’ll not do it again.”