The One with the Repeat Offender

I once had this series of blog posts on my now-defunct Multiply site entitled "Confessions of a Good Monster." At the time, I thought the idea of semi-exposing my faults, flaws and weakness was a novel literary undertaking. I felt really 'cool' being able to do that especially since my 'confessions' were inspired by the release of Jars of Clay's then-latest album, Good Monsters.

In those blog entries, I expressed my naive understanding of the existence of both good and evil inside my body, my whole being, making a show of my own internal struggle. Among the struggles I wrote about were my inclination towards being judgmental and my proclivity towards fleshly things (if you catch my drift). I guess you could say I was snitching on my 'evil side'.

If memory serves me right, I think I wrote about ten of these good monster confessions.

Flash forward to today.

No longer as naive as I was regarding my view of the sinful flesh and the regenerate man.

No longer as flamboyant when it comes to putting my internal conflict into words.

But still finding my way through the struggle (which is very real, by the way) between the 'good' and the 'monster'.

Still getting incensed when my faults, flaws and weaknesses get the better of me (which is actually just a sugar-coat-y way of saying "when I willfully commit sin").

Still fighting the good fight, which is mostly done against the resident repeat offender who, over the years, has lost some of its potency but still manages to throw in a punch or two.

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Nevertheless, always grateful for forgiveness.

And mercy.

And grace.

And for the unrelenting love from a God Who repeatedly offends our understanding of forgiveness and mercy and grace...

...the God Who extends His divine kindness to all the good monsters and repeat offenders.