Again?

Again?

I don’t approve of her attire, or the moves, or even the nonchalant delivery style but Britney’s sentiment sounds familiar “oops I did it again.” That sounds remarkably similar to Paul’s Spirit-led confession in Romans 7 “I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway” (vss 18b-19), which leads to the conclusion “wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Vss 24-25).

Maybe you don’t, but I live there. My intention is good, but my tongue gets in the way. My plan is to build up, but I slip up instead. I never have a desire to do any harm, but I find myself penitent again. It happened again today. I said too much. And try as I might, I can’t seem to pull those words back in.

It’s not an excuse but certainly worth being reminded of. James said: “if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way” (3:2). It’s not incidental that the previous verse is a warning issued to those who would consider being teachers.

And you and I will both continue to remember that caution, and continue to learn, and continue to stumble. It is frustrating. But when the day was over a seven year old boy walked up to me and said: “That was a really good sermon. I learned a lot.”

In the midst of our stumbling and bumbling, we do the Lord’s Work. As earthen as these humble vessels can be, we are the Lord’s plan. And the Lord is good and the Lord is gracious. So, if you “do not do what (you) want, but do the very thing (you) hate,” try to make it right, but then breathe a prayer of thanks to the Living God who Loves You and remember, you are doing more good than you will ever know here. As frustrating as it might be, “don’t quit.”