“Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." And Nathan said to David, "The LORD also has taken away your sin; you shall not die.”  II Sam.12:13

One of the most important ingredients of godliness is sincere fault ownership. To refuse to divert blame onto any other source and to take 100% responsibility for our own failure is one of the most humbling enterprises known to man. And one of the most powerful. By it David became the man that Saul could have been. But Saul valued his own ego and others' opinion of him far more than humble, fault ownership before God and men.

I heard recently about a group of teenagers sitting around a campfire on a youth camping trip. The leader of the trip posed the question, “What do you most appreciate about your father?” There were many different answers such as his hard work for the family, the time he spent with his children, the fun they had with him, etc. Then one young man ventured, “What I most appreciate about my dad is that he is willing to admit to us when he was wrong in the way he handled a situation. Especially when it concerns us”. Apparently there was dead silence until one girl chimed in, “I would give anything for my dad to do that.” Almost every other teenager there said the same thing in one way or another. The group leader told me that the teenagers later kept telling that one young man that he had no idea how lucky he was to have a father that would do that.

Israeli Prime Minister Disraeli was exactly right. “One of the hardest things in this world is to admit you are wrong. And nothing is more helpful in resolving a situation than its frank admission.” Sincerely uttering the simple words “I was wrong” is often times one of the most difficult things a person can do. And courageous. And powerful. This holds true whether it be at the workplace or in politics or ministry or with our family. Especially with our family.