Repeat Offenders

“Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:9

There are few things that exasperate me more than hearing about a criminal who was released only to commit the same heinous crime again. It boggles my mind that a person could experience a season in prison, isolated from his world and estranged from freedom only to return to those same destructive activities upon release. Even with the stakes high and the things they learned in prison they don't put them into practice...the head knowledge never traveled to the heart which could have altered their decisions.

Now before I judge the repeat offender, I need to look no further than my own weaknesses. I was taught that gossip was destructive and yet I find myself sometimes judging someone in my head which falls onto my lips failing to put into practice kindness. God tells us that bitterness and unforgiveness has no place in our hearts and we are to put into practice grace as we have received. And yet, we do not forgive...we secretly harbor bitterness. As parents we didn’t teach our children things just to hear ourselves speak. We taught them rights and wrongs to help them navigate through life and become caring and loving adults with integrity and kindness. We fully expected them to put what they received from us as parents into practice. So does God.

“As you receive [God’s truths] wonders occur...in time, facts in your head will become faith in your heart and create the fruit of the hands. Yes, ‘doing’ matters to God. But ‘doing’ follows receiving. Paul carefully presents the proper order: Learn. Receive. Do.” Begin Again, Max Lucado, p. 105.