Why Apologize?

The other night at Bible study, it came time for prayer requests.

As I casually start to talk, tears began to well up in my eyes.

Well good Lord, where did that come from? I was fine, even joyful, the entire Bible study night!

I finally shared a petition I hadn't said out loud. Maybe I was hiding a little in this burden I was carrying?

And God, by his Holy Spirit, helped me say the quiet thing out loud.

Then it occurred to me later that evening…why in the world do I immediately apologize for crying?

“People apologize when they cry due to deeply ingrained social conditioning that views emotional displays as weak, disruptive, or a burden to others. It is a self-conscious, learned response to avoid making others uncomfortable or to hide vulnerability. Apologizing is a sign of internalized shame.”-Google

Ok…well…that’s alot…

I’m not going to try and tackle all of these points but as you can see, as usual, the world/society has it wrong.

Dozens of times in the bible, we are encouraged to cry out to Him. Human tears and crying are mentioned in the Bible 500 times. My goodness, Jesus wept.

Psalm 34:17 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and rescues them from all their troubles.

Psalm 77:1 I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me.

Galatians 6:2  share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.

Stop breaking the law ladies!  We are to share each others burdens.  Let’s not shy away from a tear or two that many times comes with these burdens.

Psalm 56:8 You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.

Our tears can be joyful, tears of grief and sorrow or tears of anger and frustration. And sometimes is just emotions escaping our brains, letting off a little steam. All of these help us to heal.

Psalm 126:5 Those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy.

Let’s make a conscience decision to stop apologizing for tears that when sown, ultimately lead to shouts of joy!