Is Saying, “Sorry” Enough?

Recently, there has been a big incident on the internet. At a major tennis match, a player was signing some items for the fans. One item was a hat that he had signed and was handing it to a young boy. An adult reached out quickly and grabbed it from the boy. He quickly folded it up and put it in his wife’s handbag... out of sight... out of mind. When the world saw what he had done, the internet caught on fire. It ended up being a millionaire CEO that did this. His first response wasn’t one of guilt or shame. He told the world that it was his because he was faster. He said it was just a hat, although he made no attempt to return it. Lastly, he threaten those exposing his bad behavior by claiming that he would have a legal team look into what was written and maybe respond legally. I assume things didn’t calm down and the company was starting to get boycotted. The CEO finally claimed that this incident was good because it caused him to humble himself. He went on to say that he didn’t realize the hat was for the boy and claimed to be sorry for it. The problem was that, by his reaction in the videos, it was no accident. So, he tried to avoid the consequence. He tried to blame others. He tried to justify his actions. When all this failed, he then claimed to humble himself and say that he was sorry, even this apology didn’t ring true. How clearly this paints the picture of the sinful individual. Like King David, after having Bathsheba’s husband killed and marring her, David tried to ignore or hide his guilt. God sent Nathan to confront him. Then like the rebellious people of God, they threatened the prophets that spoke of repentance. Then some of the people made the outward appearance of saying they were sorry, but their confession was not genuine. Such people should have no confidence in their forgiveness. There is only one way to address our sin. We need to admit our culpability. We need to know that only through Jesus are we saved. Our hearts need to be broken over what we have done and our desire to turn back (repentance) needs to be genuine. Only then can we know forgiveness. Lord, You tell us that if we confess our sins, you will forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Turn our hearts to You. Thank You! Amen