There are three words that I find very hard to say.
Those three words?
I was wrong.
I don’t know if any of you ever watched the TV show “Happy Days,” but Fonzie struggled with the the same thing. Whenever he had to admit he made a mistake, the words would get stuck in his mouth. They’d exit like a reluctant toddler having to meet a stranger.
I can totally identify with The Fonz.
This week, we stayed with some friends north of LA. These friends have twin 12-year-old boys. They told us about an incident at Chick-Fil-A where they played a practical joke on their younger brother. The brother did not find the joke all that funny. As they told the story, they said a woman at the restaurant berated them for being mean to their brother. I waited, expecting to hear them justify that it was just a joke and that the lady needed to lighten up. But they didn’t say any of those things. They said, “She was right.”
What??
I listened as they admitted they should not have played that joke on their brother – they knew he would get upset. The lady was right to reprimand them, they said.
I was floored. The only thing I hate more than admitting I’m wrong is when someone tells me I’m wrong! And yet these boys humbly agreed with this woman, making no excuses for themselves. They learned from their mistake and they moved on.
I can learn a lot from these boys. Because not admitting I’m wrong often causes me to justify my behavior and vilify others. Thoughts of the “incident” can fill my mind, crowding out all other thoughts, and the frustration can turn to anger and then bitterness.
As always, God’s laws are so much more than “rules to follow.” When He commands us to humble ourselves, it is because humility brings peace and pride brings misery. Having to always be right is exhausting and time-consuming and isolating. God knows this, and so He reminds us throughout scripture of the importance of humility. Because He loves us and wants us to experience the fullness of joy. Because He is good.
So the lesson today is that I need to be less like Fonzie and more like the twins. I need to be more willing to say, “I was wr…wrrrr…wrrrooo….” Well, you know.
