To identify theft in your life, let’s consider a few species of the sin. I’ll start with the ones you are probably not struggling with (just to be encouraging): armed robbery, car-jacking, shop-lifting, syphoning gasoline, luting the cash register, grand-theft auto, and other forms of blatant larceny. So far so good, you say, “I’m not a thief.” Congratulations, you have passed the 1^st round. But these actions are also stealing.

Apparently, from what I learned online, for some people stealing proves to be quite difficult. According to the FBI, most modern-day bank robberies are “unsophisticated and unprofessional crimes.” Even though banks use surveillance cameras, 76% of robbers use no disguise. Some use disguises that aren’t convincing enough.

Like one bank robber in California who, while robbing the bank, bumped his own mother who easily recognized his disguise and promptly turned him in.

Some thieves can’t adapt their plans in the moment and botch their own heists, like the Panorama City bank robber who handed the teller a note declaring, “I have a gun. Give me all your twenties in this envelope.” The teller responded nervously, “All I’ve got is two twenties.” The pilferer took the bills and absconded with his scant take.

Remarkably, 86% of thieves don’t study the bank before the robbery, like one would-be villain who broke into a bank in Anaheim only to discover it was no longer in business and had no money.

And if you do get caught, don’t be like the suspect who just couldn’t control himself during a line-up. When detectives asked each man in the line-up to repeat the words: “Give me all your money or I’ll shoot.” The man protested, “That’s not what I said!”

Some stealing is difficult to do. But there is something far more difficult than stealing, and that is to stop stealing.

Previously we looked at Instructions on how to repent and then specifically, how to repent of lying and anger. Today we turn our attention to thievery.

3 Steps To Repent of Stealing

1. Refrain: Put Off the Behavior

Ephesians 4:28 Let the thief no longer steal,

Step one is, as always, just stop it. Or, in Paul’s parlance, “put off” the sin. This involves identifying the sin in your life, calling it what the Bible calls it, confessing it, and refraining from doing it.

You might think “Finally a blog that doesn’t apply to me. I definitely don’t steal!” Well, we shall see about that…

To identify theft in your life, let’s consider a few species of the sin.

I’ll start with the ones you are probably not struggling with (just to be encouraging): armed robbery, car-jacking, shop-lifting, syphoning gasoline, luting the cash register, grand-theft auto, and other forms of blatant larceny. So far so good, you say, “I’m not a thief.” Congratulations, you have passed the 1^st round. But these actions are also stealing:

• Downloading copyrighted material.
• Making illegal copies of DVDs or CDs.
• Purchasing pirated software.
• Finding that you have accidentally walked out of a shop with goods you haven’t paid for and neglecting to return them.
• Borrowing something you never make the effort to return.

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