Paul

Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.

Philippians 3:13

The British equivalent of the American phrase to “eat crow” is to “eat humble pie.” In the Middle Ages, servants in the lord’s hall of a castle would be fed a pie made from the inner organs of a deer—the deer’s umbles. This lower-class meal supposedly served as the inspiration for eating “humble pie.” Whether eating crow or humble pie, either is an exercise in humiliation.

The apostle Paul found himself in a humiliating situation when he embraced as his own Savior and Lord the very Jesus he had established a reputation for persecuting. Humiliation is akin to being humbled, and Paul was certainly humbled by his experience with Jesus on the Damascus road (Acts 9). Everything he had been advancing toward in Judaism he had to forget. Embracing Jesus as the Jewish Messiah meant he had to say, “I’m sorry. I was wrong.” Looking back, Paul saw the error of his ways. Looking forward, he saw the expectation of His praise.

If you need to say “I’m sorry” to God or to another person, don’t put it off. It could be the dividing point between the past and the future.

The self-righteous never apologize.

LEONARD RAVENHILL