Parents, spouses, family, friends and strangers have verbally and physically abused, molested and just mistreated people in their lives or people who came across their path.
Many times they knew what they were doing and sometimes they were just doing the best they could.
When raising children, many times you do what you think is right, what was done to you or for you, or just the best you can.
Many times in relationships you do what you know, think is right or what you thought was right at the time.
Sometimes you just did not care.
Maybe you did not have the coping skills to handle the situation differently.
Many times you had your own unresolved issues.
But once you know better you can do better.
If you did something in a relationship because you did not know better or were just wrong, would it be so bad to apologize.
Many times the people who experienced your lack of knowledge were hurt.
Some were short term wounds, but many suffer long term injuries.
Many will be taking that baggage into future relationships often not understanding their own behavior.
Depending on the situation that occurred, forgiveness could be a process for them, because the damage runs deeply.
If you apologized, you could possibly help in their healing process.
They may have already forgiven you, because they needed to do that for themselves.
But you know.
When confronted with issues from the past, even if it was yesterday, instead of defending your wrong or making an excuse for what you did, why not accept responsibility for what you did or did not do and ask for forgiveness.
If they succeeded, instead of thinking it was because of how you treated or mistreated them, consider that it was in spite of how you treated them.
Apologizing is not a sign of weakness; it is a sign of strength and growth.
It takes a big person to admit when they have done something wrong.
You can apologize to your child.
It is a good lesson for them to learn, and learn early.
Apologize to your spouse and apologize to your victims.
Apologizing is not always easy.
If you think you may have to apologize for your actions, maybe you will think twice before you act or speak.
When you apologize, be sincere and change your behavior.
My suggestion and advice is repent.