Marriage requires good conflict resolution skills. And there's no better skill we could master than apologizing correctly. A good apology includes three things: 1) regret, 2) responsibility and 3) a remedy.
Remedy: I've noticed that we fight more and have less patience with each other when we aren't consistently keeping a weekly date night. I want to make that a higher priority. How about I schedule it this week and you schedule it next week?
I read that "an apology without regret is cold and uncaring; an apology without remedy is empty words; an apology without responsibility is not an apology at all."
After a fight, you can't just pretend nothing happened and move on. For the conflict to be resolved you must be willing to say "I'm sorry" as well as "I forgive you". A happy marriage is simply the union of two good apologizers and forgivers! Apology + Forgiveness = Reconciliation.
Regret: I'm really sorry. I know I hurt your feelings and I feel terrible about it because I love you.
Responsibility: I shouldn't have talked to you that way. It was disrespectful and rude and I have no excuse for treating you that way.
I read that "an apology without regret is cold and uncaring; an apology without remedy is empty words; an apology without responsibility is not an apology at all."
After a fight, you can't just pretend nothing happened and move on. For the conflict to be resolved you must be willing to say "I'm sorry" as well as "I forgive you". A happy marriage is simply the union of two good apologizers and forgivers! Apology + Forgiveness = Reconciliation.
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