I'm the idiot...

I was painting a kitchen in a townhouse last week when I noticed a big "blob" of paint on a kitchen cabinet. There are basically two rules to follow if you want to make it as a painting contractor: (1.)Put paint on the stuff that is supposed to get painted, and (2.) Keep paint off of the stuff that isn't supposed to be painted (not exactly brain surgery) ... The paint drip definitely violated ruled number two so I whipped out my trusty rag to wipe it off. Oops!


Here's where I learned something... As I tried to wipe the spatter off the cabinet I realized that it was dry-"not my fault", I thought. Immediately I went from "oops!" to thinking "I wonder who the idiot painter was who did this?" You can blame it on the paint fumes if you want, but as soon as I thought "I wonder who the idiot painter was who did this?" I had an epiphany- I was the "idiot"! I had been painting this particular rental townhouse property for nearly ten years. (Many different paint jobs...not one extremely slow one) Chances are very good that I was the "idiot" who made the mess during some past job. I realized that even if by some chance I had not left that particular "paint blob", there are doubtless many other messes left by me during my painting career that had to be cleaned up or "overlooked" by others. I realized that even though I pride myself on becoming "better" and "neater" as the years have passed, it is impossible to go back and clean up all the "messes and misses" I have made over the years.


I want to remember that "paint blob epiphany". I want to remember it every time I feel superior because someone else gets caught doing a sin that I no longer struggle with. I want to remember that "I am the idiot" whenever I think that I have a sinful area of my life "under control"...it certainly wasn't always that way. I want to remember that blob of paint whenever I am tempted to compare just how "spatter free" my life is in comparison to someone else... I hope I never forget that "I'm the idiot" when I find myself thinking that my particular sins are somehow less offensive than someone else's. I hope it always reminds me to follow the example of Jesus and chose mercy and forgiveness instead of judgement and condemnation...It's pretty easy when I remember that "I'm the idiot".