What is a repeat
offender? A repeat offender is someone who fails at a particular sin most times,
and has to ask God for forgiveness every time. Hebrews encourages us to lay
aside every weight and the sin that so easily besets (overwhelms) us, looking
unto Jesus…
Each of us as human
beings has some weakness that we struggle with. As a matter of fact, there are
persons who struggle with more than one sin. It might be an addiction like
smoking, drinking, gossiping, lying, stealing, bad-talking the pastor, cursing,
or something more common like feeling we are better than someone else because
of our physical beauty, our salary range, our academic qualifications, or
something as mundane as the car we drive or the house we live in.
Some folks might even
argue that they are not struggling with anything, but for those of us who truly
see ourselves in the light of God’s word, we would readily admit that we are
stumbling at the door of certain sins.
What I find in myself though
is that I want God to be patient with my persistent flaws, the most damning of which
is incessant procrastination, especially when coming to my school assignments, but
I am almost intolerant when it comes to a particular fault of which my spouse
is very guilty. He is a repeat offender!
I must admit that I rail
on him about the particular habit that is most certainly overwhelming him, and
instead of being more mindful of my own repeat offender status with Jesus, I get
really angry at him.
Recently I was late
with a class assignment again---Jesus really has to help me---and the patient, easy-going
lecturer forgave my indiscretion once more and kindly asked that I turn it in
at another time. I skipped away so relieved. But what of my dear husband, and
even others, who I believe should buck up and “stop de chupidness”?
Up comes the Holy
Spirit, reminding me that I have “chupidness” that overpowers me as well. He brought
to my mind that famous verse: Take the beam out of your own eye, before telling
your brother about the speck in his eye. Ouch!
The lesson for me: I am
a repeat offender, and so is everyone else, but we are all a work in progress.
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