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Apology accepted without forgiveness

The value of an apology in our hypersensitive environment leaves us without forgiveness in many situations.

The 101st running of the Indianapolis 500 motorcar race happened this past Sunday. Japanese driver Takuma Sato drove a fantastic race and came home with the victory. The other drivers had nothing but positive things to say about his win.

A Denver Post reporter tweeted that he was uncomfortable with a Japanese driver winning the Indycar race on Memorial Day weekend. His father fought in World War II causing him to become overly emotional.

The tweet cost him his job, but not before he apologized and explained the reasons for his tweet. His apology is accepted by many, but lacked forgiveness for his error.

I asked my father, who is a World War II veteran, about Sato's win, and he said it is an impressive win. I then asked if he had a problem with Sato winning on Memorial Day weekend given he is a Japanese driver.

My father responded, he had no problem at all, and never even thought about the connection. He told me that Takuma Sato is not responsible as he wasn't there when the war happened.

I then asked my father how he would handle being at the same table with someone who fought against him in the war.

He told me that it would be uncomfortable for him, and probably the same for the person sitting on the other side of the table. He said that they could get past any issue.

Show forgiveness without needing an apology

Everybody seems like they have to apologize for just about everything under the sun. A lot of our misspoken words are in the moment accidents while others have personal meaning and spoke at the wrong time.

Many apologies accepted go without being given the grace of forgiveness. Many people don't realize an accepted apology is not good enough in certain cases.

“Make allowances for each other's faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.” – Colossians 3:13 NLT

As Christians, is it not upon us to offer up forgiveness when we receive an apology? What if we don't accept an apology? Is it not in us to offer forgiveness anyway?

I think it is too bad that the Denver Post reporter lost his job over this tweet. Don't you believe that this guy deserves forgiveness?

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