If you don't like football, you probably dislike social media today. The 2015 NFL season kicked off last night and less than an hour after the Patriots beat the Steelers we had the first accusation of cheating floated at the Patriots. They have since been cleared of any nefarious intentions, but the damage has already been done.
As a loyal Patriots fan I can see the steaming pile of poo from a mile away. It is easier to blame the Patriots for cheating than to recognize they outplayed you. If you leave Gronk wide open, you better be prepared to taken advantage of every trip to the Red Zone. When in the Red Zone you should play disciplined ball and not sit in the end zone with your toes out of bounds. You should probably put in a little extra work if you know the coach across from you is the best in the business.
However, there is something else which has been bouncing around in my mind for a while. Everyone is going to accuse the Patriots of cheating because they have a history of cheating. It doesn't matter that yourteamcheats.com places them 22 out of 32 teams. The Patriots are "notorious" for cheating and "outrageous in their flaunting of the rules."
Reputation matters if you are going to be tried by the media and your peers. If you are standing before Jesus Christ, He cares not for your history. He's prepared to purify your sins and wash you whiter than snow.
Jesus doesn't want to excuse away your sins or cover them so you forget. He wants to rid you of them. They aren't meant to be brought up again. The hardest aspect of grace and forgiveness is overcoming the memories of our past. We should learn from our past, but not repeat our history. There are going to be new sins. It doesn't cancel out the forgiveness. New sins require fresh repentance, but are covered by the same grace.
Where most Christians lose their testimony is the hypocrisy they show. Saved by grace, but standing in judgement of others. I personally don't want to be my history.
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