What if “I’m sorry” isn’t enough?

In this thought-provoking episode of The Collide Podcast, we sit down with Dr. Jennifer Thomas to talk about how to give and receive apologies that actually heal. Together, we unpack the power of restoration through meaningful apologies, explore why forgiveness is essential to our faith, and learn how understanding The 5 Apology Languages™ can completely transform how we mend relationships. Whether you’re longing to repair a friendship, rebuild trust in your marriage, or simply communicate better with the people you love, this conversation will remind you that grace and humility can turn brokenness into healing.

Meet Dr. Thomas

Dr. Jennifer Thomas is a best-selling author, psychologist, and sought-after speaker who has spent decades helping people navigate the beautiful and sometimes messy work of relationships. She co-authored The 5 Apology Languages™ with Dr. Gary Chapman, creator of The 5 Love Languages®, and is one of a handful of approved presenters for his global teaching series. Through her research and writing, Dr. Thomas equips individuals, couples, and organizations to communicate more effectively, repair broken trust, and extend forgiveness rooted in biblical truth.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn

• Why “I’m sorry” often isn’t enough to repair broken relationships
• The 5 Apology Languages™ and how to identify your own
• How to ask for and offer forgiveness in ways that build true reconciliation
• What Scripture teaches about humility, confession, and grace
• Practical steps to turn hurt into healing and conflict into connection
• 
  

How This Episode Will Encourage You

If you’ve ever struggled to move past hurt, wished someone’s apology felt more genuine, or wondered how to forgive when it feels impossible, this episode will offer hope and clarity. You’ll be reminded that God calls us not just to say the right words—but to live out forgiveness that restores hearts and rebuilds trust.

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Hey there. So glad you hopped on the Collide podcast. This is Willow Weston. I am glad I get to hang out with you wherever you are.

I don't know what you're doing or where you're at, but you're plugged in, you're tuning in, and you're saying, hey, I want to grow. I want to grow in Jesus. I want to grow in my life. And I love that so much. I want to, too. So I'm right here with you.

I am assuming that you've probably heard of the Five Love Languages written by Gary Chapman. Huge selling book, so well known and so helpful.

And this guest that I have on today, Dr. Jennifer Thomas, collabed and co authored her book with Dr. Gary Chapman. Her book is called the Five Apology Languages. It's actually a fascinating concept, and I'm going to hand this interview to you, Jennifer.

It's so great to have you on the podcast today. I have a million things I want to ask you.

You've spent the last few decades of your life helping people navigate the messy, beautiful work of relationships with. With people. How did you get into this work?

Ah, well, first, thank you for having me on, Willow. I'm excited to be able to talk to you and your listeners. And my work really started.

I became a psychologist, and I wanted to do that from a Christian perspective.

So I double majored in college and psychology and religious studies, and then I went on to a graduate program in clinical psychology as well as community psychology. And that has tied in with work that I'm doing now also.

And so I was in private practice for a number of years, and I was also married, and we had three kids. And along the way, you know, we had some bumps and some disagreements, as you do when you're married.

But I found that my apologies were not landing for my husband. And so I had an idea about, you know, why that might be. And we tried out some things and they were helping us.

And so I ended up taking my idea to Gary Chapman, the author of the Five Love Languages, and he got really interested in it. And we coined the term apology languages for the five different things that we found people are looking for in apologies.

And so that has grown now into what I do mainly, which is writing and speaking about relationships and how to keep them on track and keep open communication with people, both at home, in the workplace, with friendships, and even with political conversations that are happening now.

Jennifer, I love that you got into this work, not because you were saying, hey, I have all this education and all this experience as A professional, and I'm going to tell you everything you need to know. But you are also someone saying, I need this in my own life.

You started from this humble place of recognizing that it was something that you needed in your marriage. I'm so curious.

I've been married 27 years, so I can laugh at your story about marriage, but I'm so curious how you were apologizing that wasn't landing.

Okay, so one Friday evening, I was fixing dinner, and we were talking about some things and talking about our work days, and I made a mistake. And in the midst of that, I didn't think it was a huge mistake, so I just said, I'm sorry, and I tried to move on.

And jt, as my husband, he just wasn't having it. He just thought that I'm sorry wasn't enough that night.

And it surprised me because normally he's a pretty easygoing guy, but that night it was different. And so I wanted us to be able to get it resolved and move on with the rest of our. We had hit the finish line, we were ready for the weekend there.

And so I said to him, it seems like you're upset. What's the matter? And he said, well, I just wish you would apologize now, timeout.

Because if you have apologized, but then they act like you didn't, that's a frustrating feeling. And so I got curious, and so I said to him, well, I did apologize.

I said, I'm sorry, but it sounds like that didn't land for you at all, so what did you want me to say? And he knew right away what he wanted to say.

And here I like to pause and invite you and your listeners to think about, okay, well, what might he have wanted? Because chances are that whatever your answer is is your primary apology language. And in JT's case, I'll tell you the answer.

He said, I wanted you to say that you were wrong. And so I kind of stammered a little bit and I said, well, you know, to me they're really similar. I'm sorry, I was wrong.

That's what I meant when I said, I'm sorry. I was wrong in this mistake that I made. And it made a big difference for him. It was like the tension just vanished.

And I thought, okay, this guy didn't come with an instruction book, but I just learned something that I want to remember, because whenever I'm in the doghouse with him, he has something kind of like a set of keys for how to get out of there that I didn't really know before. And to me, you know, I don't mind which phrase I use, but if those are magic words for him, that's what I want to do. And so I remembered it.

And it also connected with some teaching on forgiveness that I had heard on Focus on the Family about several different kinds of things people want to hear in apologies. Now, they were talking about three.

But when I carried this idea to Gary Chapman, what I said is, you know, I think it's kind of like the love languages, where we might have our own script of what we want to offer, whether it's love or an apology apology. But what we need to figure out is what is the other person waiting to hear or waiting to see us do?

And so I was just struck by the parallel of the problem of missing it with each other. And then when you miss it and you feel like you've tried, how frustrating it can be because you say, well, I did it.

And they said, no, you didn't do it. And so we got interested in this, and Gary Chapman said, you know, you could write a book on this.

It's a really interesting idea, and if you want to, I'll partner with you on it. And so I said, let me think about it. Yes, and we have had a nice journey in doing this.

And the first thing we did is we surveyed his readers to ask, well, what counts as a real apology to you? And we found that their answers fell into five different categories.

And I promise we weren't looking for five, although we know he really likes that number. And so if you want me to go through the five apology languages, I'll tell you the first two we've already touched on.

Those are saying I'm sorry and saying I was wrong. But there are three other things that some people may be waiting to hear.

And you could also think of these as steps to a complete apology, because if you don't know what someone's apology language is, then it would be best to use all five. So the third one is for people who are saying, you know what? Talk is cheap. I want some action.

And so for some people, they really want you to make amends or make them whole again.

And then for other people, they will say, well, that's all good, but I need to know what you're going to change so that this isn't going to keep happening again. And we call that apology language revising the plan. And our final apology language is actually a question.

We found that about 3.3percent of people could hear all of the rest, but still feel unsure about Your sincerity, if you don't ask them this question, will you please forgive me?

And I've had people come up to me after I speak about this and they'll sometimes with tears in their eyes, they'll say, you know, I've been told or I felt that I wasn't very forgiving. But what I realize now is that I'm, I'm that way. I need for people to say, I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me someday.

It means so much to me. And when people don't do that, then I'm stuck thinking like, and give me some more here. And so she's.

These people, often female, will say, you know what, I'm learning, what I need to ask for and what really counts to me.

And so, and a lot of women are finding this empowering where you don't have to accept second rate apologies, just like my husband wasn't going to accept that from me.

It's really interesting because when I read up on you and I was excited to talk to you about this because I can see the power that this could have if you can get it right. I thought, like you said, I thought these were like the five things you should do. But what you're suggesting is that could be the whole apology.

But you're suggesting getting to know our five apology languages as well as those that we're in relationship with, like being self aware of, say my kids apology language so that I make sure to give them what they need when we're having conflict. Is that what you're saying?

That's exactly right, yeah. And it's radical, but it lines up really well with the five love languages.

And so that's why Gary Chapman and I now call the apology languages and the love languages the two essentials for healthy relationships. And what we believe is that it's really important to learn for the people who you see every day.

We want people to know not only their love language, but also their apology language because here's what happens. And as we live and breathe, we are going to offend people. And when that happens, it creates a barrier between us and the other person.

And if those barriers don't get removed, then it's like bricks in a wall that just add up and over time you aren't going to be able to communicate with that person anymore.

And so apologies are really key because they can go in and one brick at a time we can tear down those walls and apologies open the doorway for forgiveness and reconciliation. But it important for people to know that of course, that's not guaranteed.

People may say, okay, I'll forgive you, but I'm going to set a boundary so that I'll be safe, or I may need to move away for a time. We also say you need to be sure that you're patient. If you're the apologizer. We can't demand that someone forgive us.

It's important to be willing to respect their time frame, and especially if two things are true. If the offense is serious or if it's repeated, chances are that you have trampled on the trust of the person to whom you're apologizing.

And so you can actually show your sincerity by saying, I know it's going to take time to rebuild your trust, and I'm not going to ask for your forgiveness today or anytime soon.

Let's talk about what I can do, what we can change, how I can make amends so that we can begin to create a passable road of communication again with the idea of trusting each other. For some people, it may be way down the road.

I appreciate that you've done so much work around this topic, and I think it seems like apologies are a lot more complex than people make them out to be.

I mean, even when I think about in our own family or ways I've seen seen people apologize, they try to make it kind of almost simplistic, like, I just want to be done. I said I was sorry. There's kind of that sort of like passive aggressive, I told you I was sorry. Like, why can't you get over this?

I mean, sometimes it seems like apologies are this thing that we're doing that aren't sincere just because we want to be done with conflict.

Yeah. And some people don't want to apologize at all.

I actually had a local friend here when she heard it about my book that was coming out, I ran into her at a fast food restaurant and she said, jennifer, I'm really glad about your book, but honestly, I don't want to apologize. And I. I think that, that there are a lot of people who are like her, you know, for various reasons.

And we talk about those reasons in the five apology languages. We talk about how our scripts for how to apologize come from childhood. They come from our parents and our teachers.

That can include Sunday school teachers. And also for people who, where especially if it's hard for them to say, I was, I'm wrong, I made a mistake. That one seems to come.

It's harder for people if they were raised in a shaming environment.

So we talk about if the message they got wasn't you did a bad thing, but you are bad, then they've probably learned to cover up and to hide their mistakes. And we all have that urge, you know, we don't want to let down our love.

And so if we do something we know we're not allowed to do either in childhood or in adulthood, guess what? We're not going to be quick to own up to that. We want to keep our secrets and hide the things we're doing that we're not proud of.

But if we're going to have open and trusting relationships, we need to practice these five. And you know, you can teach an old dog new tricks.

Also, we say it's important to model and to practice these if you're raising kids or grandkids are in your life to be willing to apologize to them when you need to or let them see you apologizing to your spouse. Because that's how they begin to get these scripts for this important life skill of being able to ask for forgiveness and to reconcile with people.

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It's really interesting when you bring up this idea that there's people who don't want to apologize and you mentioned a few of the reasons why that might potentially be the case. What do you think is the cost of that?

I mean, because it seems to me, and I've heard of friends who maybe their mother in law hurts them and continually does things but never apologizes. And it almost seems like the lack of apology lays on hurt over the top of hurt, that it creates distrust on top of distrust.

What is not apologizing cause beyond the initial pain.

Yeah, well I'm glad you made that point because if we go back to the wall that could be between us and a relative in your example, the wall comes from the offenses originally and it could also be increased by having this desire to be apologized to.

And I would say also by if you want them to change their actions but they're still doing it because they don't get it and so you can have, I call it a tremendous mess on your hands. And I think one of the most hurtful things in life is to be misunderstood.

And it can be very serious when it's a family member, because we will still sometimes see them. We'll get thrown together with them, but we may not be comfortable if there's all this unresolved wall between us and them.

Also, I think it's very sad when the opposite happens, when people don't see each other because of an offense that's happened. I know some parents who are estranged from their adult children and they're not able to see their grandchildren.

And that's an area in now doing consulting with them. And I'm also doing leadership consulting in the workplace, because guess what? We need to be better at apologizing in all the aspects of our lives.

And we in our apologies to our customers if we have a business are very important, as well as being able to apologize within a team, because that's. If we don't have that, we're not going to be functioning in our optimum way. We need to be able to move forward. And that team there.

Again, if you're in a relationship that's your partner, how are the two of you functioning? What unresolved conflicts are keeping you all from being able to move forward together?

If you experience hurt with someone who refuses to apologize, is it appropriate to express that you would like someone to apologize?

You know, that's a really good question, and I'm inclined to say yes, with a few caveats. So I think a good way to approach it might be. Here's a phrase I often use.

I would like to circle back to something that happened or something that was said or that I think I heard you say. So I recommend that people make sure that they and the other party agree on the facts of what happened.

Because could you imagine if you ask someone to apologize and then they say, but I didn't say. I never said that. I never did that.

Oh, I can imagine. I can. This happens in our house. So I like. I'd like to circle back.

Yeah. So let me circle back and see if we agree about the facts of who said what.

And then if we're in agreement on that, then we can talk about how it landed. And a gentle startup for that. You know, I don't know that I would jump all the way to. It really offended me. And I want you to apologize.

Anger is the other side of the coin from sadness. And sadness is more approachable to people. They are more inclined to step in and try to help us if we say, that made me feel sad.

So if that is true and sincere, I actually recommend that people step forward with the sadness foot instead of the anger foot, because the anger foot drives people to the. They run for the hills. I mean, you know, it's uncomfortable.

But if I tell you I felt kind of sad after what we talked about last night or the way things went, for example, then you were more likely to get concerned and interest in seeing if they can help us fix it. And so if we describe what made us feel bad, then that's where we may be rewarded with an apology and that resolution of the conflict.

But, you know, even that can go a couple of different ways. They may agree that they didn't act in the right way or made some bad choices, or they may not agree.

And, you know, it's kind of like a decision tree. Okay, well, if you agree, then they may or may not apologize. Hopefully they will.

If they agree that they acted poorly and they don't apologize, then that is exactly the place where we come back to your question of can you ask for an apology? And I would say yes.

Also, you can if you get a partial apology, but it's not in your primary apology language, or they didn't use all of them, then they may have missed what you really needed to hear. And in most relationships, you know, I think the person would want to know what we need to hear and what's still missing.

And I would try to put it in positive terms, like, you know, some. I'm learning that something that's helpful for me to hear when things have gone off the rails is this and such, whatever you might think.

Willow, do you know what your primary apology language is? What would you need to hear?

Well, it's funny that you.

That you word it in the positive, by the way, because I think a lot of times in those moments, the go to response can be, you're not saying that you'll change your behavior or whatever. It's a negative.

It's a negative way of asking for something versus asking for it in the positive and saying, you know, it'd be really helpful for me if that. That's good wording. You know, I'm looking at your five things.

Express regret, example, saying I'm sorry, accept responsibility, saying, I was wrong, make restitution, which is how can I make it right? Plan for change. I'll take steps to prevent a reoccurrence and then request forgiveness.

Can you find it in your heart to fill in the Blank, I think, which is funny. This could have changed the last 30 years of my experience in marriage. But I think that for me to hear a plan for change, when we.

We experience the same thing over and over again, saying I'm sorry starts to not mean anything because it's like, well, no, but we've, we've talked about this 25 times. And he has the same thing with me. No, no blame to Rob. Love my husband, sure.

But when you live with a broken human and they live with you for your whole life, things come up over and over again. And I think for me that tell me how you're going to do something so we don't keep doing the same thing and getting the same results.

Because just saying I'm sorry and then you do it again in a week, that doesn't do anything for me. So that would definitely be mine.

Yep, I resonate with that. As with the love languages, we can have a couple of favorites.

So my secondary apology language after saying I'm sorry is yours, which is our fourth one. Revising the plan, letting them know what we're going to do differently.

And in my case, again with the marriage example, my husband tries to fit a lot in. I try to as well.

It causes both of us to run late at times, but it was happening more on his end at times that it was impacting me and what the kids and I were trying to do. And I remember thinking, I don't want him to be sorry. I want him to be here when he was running late. Exactly. Yes.

And so in that case, revising the plan would. Might include something like him not only using apology words, but also setting a reminder if it's a weekly problem.

I think this one was about him leaving work weekly or daily reminder about what time to start shutting down to allow time for all the traffic that you're going to run into and the other things that we have to learn to anticipate.

Yeah, that's so funny.

I can imagine that you've heard some pretty interesting ways that people are getting to know their style with the people they're in relationship with. I'd love to hear some of those because it feels a little different to me to be like, hand someone. I love the five Love languages book.

And it's almost like, hey, I want to give this to you. Let me know what your love language is so I can bless you more.

Versus, hey, I'm going to give this to you because I really need you to figure out how to apologize better to me or how I need you to apologize, you know, so I'm curious how you've seen. Because I'm even picturing in our family, I have two young adult children and my husband. I'd be super curious what their apology languages are.

So is it best to just be like, hey, let's read this book together. I mean, how are you seeing people sort of like get their loved ones to get to know these languages so they can actually live them out?

Right? Yeah. Well, there are a couple of ways.

So the first thing I would say is again, where whatever is true of the love languages is probably true of the apology languages. I do think there's a positive way to gift this book and it would around saying, I know that I am going to offend you inevitably.

And I want to know just like you're saying what, what are your apology languages? So let's. I want to give you this book so you can tell me what you need to hear and what you need to see me do when I trip up.

And in that spirit, we're seeing people giving it as a, like, I don't want to say a two pack, but they're giving them together for premarital couples or for wedding gift.

Because you need to have the two in your life if you're going to have a healthy relationship, we believe because you need to be able to keep the love tank full.

And also when the conflict crops up, especially if one person is conflict avoidant, it's not going to work very well to keep trying to sweep that stuff under the rug. It's got to be dealt with. And so we have tools in there for helping people do that. So regarding those tools, we have a free apology language profile.

We keep it free because we want people to take it and share it. Just like any other quiz that you can do online, you can find it at my website and also at the 5lovelanguages.com website.

Mine is D R J E N thomas.com and people can take that. And it's a paper and pencil test which a lot of people like. Or you can also just have a conversation with people.

And here are two questions that I recommend. One is to ask them when you hear a really good apology, what is included? And then the opposite.

When you hear an apology that stinks, what have they left out? And chances are that what they say is going to reflect their apology language to you.

I'm curious.

Yes.

And I'm sure you've heard a million stories. But when someone knows that they've hurt someone they care about, but they don't feel sorry for what they've done. What is that an indicator of?

Well, you know, you're asking a psychologist. And so personality issues come to mind. That is, you know, it's one sign of being egocentric or in the extreme. Narcissists are that way.

And they will also. They'll not only not take responsibility, but they'll blame you in the meantime. But, you know, there. There are all different shades of that.

Like, some of our best leaders are people who maybe have some. Some traits of a more controlling, more dominant personality, but it's manageable.

You know, it can sometimes be difficult to be in close relationship with such a person. But hey, if you need a cheerleader or you need someone to go to bat for you, that's just the right person to have there. And so I encourage people to.

To look at who they're getting into a relationship with.

And then Gary Chapman and I want for people to preserve their marriages and to find the way to have the conversations that we're talking about, to be able to say, you know, I didn't like the way that went down. I hope we can find better ways of resolving our conflict.

And so that's really our passion, is to help people to feel understood and to be able to benefit from the good relationships that are in their lives. We both feel strongly that it's the quality of our relationships that determines so much of our joy and satisfaction in life.

And so, you know, I really thank you for shining a light on this topic because, you know, helping, wanting to help people get their relationships in order and strengthen them, I think is really a valuable topic. And it's something, you know, apologies, we don't talk about them that much. I call them the wallpaper of life.

Like they're there, but we don't really pay attention to them. And so I've had fun talking about apologies also. Some apologies, like my sports figures and celebrities, I talk about their apologies as examples.

And I write a newsletter, it's a free newsletter, where I give relationship advice because I think it's important for us to be able to work out the kinks and to bring down those barriers.

And then turning to spiritual matters, one thing that I see a lot of people struggle with is forgiving themselves and being willing to turn to God and ask God for forgiveness and then being willing to accept it when it comes. You know, all of these are tricky matters.

And we also talk in the five apology languages about forgiveness and the fact that the biblical model of forgiveness requires repentance. You know, first, John 1, 8, 9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins.

And Dietrich Bonhoeffer talked about, if you're going around forgiving people but not expecting repentance, then that's called cheap grace.

And so that's another part of our message and something that not a lot of people are talking about, but that we think in order to really be true to Scripture, we want to bring up.

You know, there's so much you just laid down right there that was so rich. I am like, oh, I could ask you 10 questions. But I do want to ask you one question as we sort of slowly come to an end here.

You just talked about how hard it is for some of us to receive forgiveness, both from God and from other people. What's your advice on truly receiving an apology from someone who says sorry? And what's your advice on receiving forgiveness from God and others?

Let's start with receiving apologies. If you're lucky enough to get one, then I suggest that people say thank you for it.

Now, sometimes you will feel that it wasn't needed, like that it wasn't owed to you. And so if that's true, I think it's nice to say that and to let the person know, you know, I appreciate the gesture, but we're.

We were okay before I understood where you were coming from with that, and let's just keep talking. And then. But other times you were really hurt or offended.

And so they're giving you the gift of an apology, and you can let them know, hopefully, if it really lands for you, you can let them know that and tell them why. Be specific if it does. And if not, you can say, you know, thank you. I think that's a really good start for this rough place we're in.

And I think we may need some help or we need to keep working. So let's keep talking about this.

And then regarding the spiritual thing and forgiving ourselves, we have a chapter in which we talk about seeking forgiveness from God.

And a powerful thing people can do is to journal and to write down what they're dismayed that they've done or how they feel that they've let both God and themselves down. And then just lifting that up to God in whatever way is comfortable. And some people will want to get rid of that. Tearing it up or burning it.

If that's powerful for people, they might want to do that. But I'm more of a keeper. And so, you know, I would lean the other way.

I'd probably date it and maybe Write down the word forgiven to remind me that I've repented and God forgives.

It's so cool, Jennifer, that you obviously started out this entire journey with your own story and experience and education. And now God is using you to help so many people experience peace and reconciliation. That must give you so much joy.

Well, you know, it's always a pleasure to be able to talk and to share this idea. I think it's really practical. It's the kind of thing that some of your listeners will have a chance to use like today.

And I like to watch the light bulbs go on where people say, I knew what I was saying wasn't landing, but I didn't know why. And I've got many people have the pain of a broken relationship that they're carrying around and they may feel they've tried everything.

But my hope is that maybe some light bulbs are turning on about additional things people can try in order to heal their broken relationships.

I love it too, and it makes me think, man, I just want to get a home run in this. Like, maybe I'll just try to work on all five and nail all five so that if I don't know someone's language, I'm trying to cover it.

That feels like a hefty challenge, but I'm kind of up for it. I love it.

Yeah, that's great.

And Willow, I'll add on the opposite end, one thing my mom said she liked about having read my book after it came out is that she's an over apologizer or could be. And so it lets her know also when she's done all five and she can rest and not keep trying to come up with things to say.

So, you know, maybe some people will find it to be relieving. Like I've done what I can do and I do recommend that people check that out.

Like at the end of saying all five, asking the person, did some of that land for you? Or is there something else that you still need to hear or see from me?

So a good part of keeping Community good communication going is just checking in with the other person about what they need.

So good, Jennifer, I know there's going to be people who want to check out this book and take your quiz and all the things. So how can they do that?

Yeah, so they can buy the book. I like to point people to Moody Publishing. They distribute the book well to bookstores and we love to support our local booksellers.

And also they can get more information about me at my website. It'S-R-E-N-Thomas.com thank you so much for hanging.

Out with us today.

I loved it. Willow. Thank you.

My guess is that you just listened to that interview, just like I did, and you not only thought of practical things that you could start implementing in your own life, but maybe it made you want to read the book. I know it made me want to read the book. But maybe it also made you think of someone else that has been struggling in a relationship.

Maybe they've been opening up to you and they're just having a hard time and there's lack of peace in their life with someone they really care about and love. And just these simple tools that Jennifer shared would change their experience, change their relationship.

So if you feel like this, this episode would bless someone, someone in their relationship with their kids or their spouse or their co workers or their employees, just send it. It's not hard to send a text and say, hey, this is a good listen. Check it out.

You sharing it gets the word out about the ministry that we do here at Collide, and we love that so much.

Friend, I hope that you will continue to lean into the Lord as you carry out with people that you love and people that you struggle with, and that you will trust him for the grace that you need, the patience you need, the words that you need, and even the moments where you're just supposed to listen or ask questions. He's colliding with you. He's showing up in your life, he's walking alongside you and he desires for you peace and love and reconciliation.

If you need to lean on to him for a deep well so that you can forgive, I encourage you to go to the one who is able to say, father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. He uttered that on the cross when he was being tortured and mocked and killed, not for anything he himself did.

I know that I have areas in my life and relationships in my life where I need to get better at communication, get better at asking for forgiveness and saying I'm sorry. And I bet you do too. We can get better, we can grow and we can experience more peace.

It's possible because of the work that the Lord is doing in our lives. So keep colliding, friend.

We'll catch you next week.