Sadie is possibly the most adorable brown-eyed little girl you could ever meet. She's also charming, intelligent—and too old to be sucking her thumb. Nor is this lost on her mother, as evidenced in a recent conversation:

Mom: Sadie! Take your fingers out of your mouth!

Sadie: (Bats her long eyelashes) But mo-om…Don't you always say God made me?

Mom: Yes…

Sadie: And don’t you always say He made me perfect? Just exactly the way I am?

Mom: Yes, but…

Sadie: And doesn’t He know I am doing it RIGHT NOW?

Mom: Sadie...

Sadie: So REALLY, if you think about it, He is ok with it because He made me a thumb sucker, and I am just how He made me to be!

Wow! Guilt avoidance and blame-shifting in one snappy sentence! If there's a pre-school award for twisted theology, Sadie must surely be a nominee.

But don’t most of us big kids also try to bend our bad behavior around our beliefs? Aren’t we just as glib and just as guilty at trying to explain away our conduct as we play the blame game:

• “I was born with a short fuse.”
• “I wasn’t raised to apologize.”
• “It’s just who I am.”

Jesus didn't die on the cross to give us better excuses for our crimes. He came to pay for the wreckage—and empower us to turn away from them. The word is repent.

Lord,

Forgive us our clever speech defending unholy deeds.

Help us own up to every crumb of our crummy behavior.

More than that, help us repent.

Amen!