I don’t want to be a hypocrite

Remember the post from a couple of days ago when I lost my phone? Well, it happened again. I got my phone back Tuesday, and just had it taken away on Thursday morning. You’re wondering what I did to deserve this, aren’t you? I did the exact same thing as I did on Monday; I texted during school hours. I was making plans to go see a movie that night with a friend, when I was supposed to be focusing on my school work.

Here’s the part where I would like to say that I received correction from my mother with a godly attitude.

Nope. Both of our ugly sides came out. My mom yelled in frustration. I faced her with an expression on my face that said “Bring it on.” My rebellion didn’t last long. I quickly turned from thinking “this is totally unfair” to thinking “ah… I get it now.” My mom punished me, apologized for losing her temper and then praised me for my quick attitude change.

If I’m honest, sharing this with all of my friends is humiliating. It’s so much easier to write about my victories than it is about failure. It’s especially humiliating when my victory post was only 2 days prior to a repeat of the same sin.

But when it all comes down to it, I consider my failure a gift—especially when it’s a repeated failure. Gods Grace is very real to me. I know people who beat themselves up because they keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again and don’t believe they can be forgiven. But my repeated failures remind me of my need for my Savior.

Before I decided to write this post, an old Sunday school song was going through my head. It’s called “ I just wanna be a sheep” And the line was “I don’t want to be a hypocrite, cause they’re not hip with it” ( Anybody else remember that song?) 

I’m sharing this with you because now the song going through my head is “Grace Greater than all my sin.”

            “Grace , Grace, God’s grace

            Grace that will pardon and cleanse within.

            Grace, Grace, God’s grace,

            Grace that is greater than all my sin.

…. ALL my sin.  Even the repeats.

2 Corinthians 12:8-10

Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.