Permission to Sin

What’s your story? No, not the story of your life. The story you tell yourself to allow you to do the things you do. We all have them.

Robin Hood is a fine example. Even though it’s historically thought to be a fictional account, there were evidently some real outlaws in England with enough parallels that they could well have inspired (or maybe been inspired by) Robin Hood and the Merry Men.

In the tale the main character, Robin Hood, “robs from the rich to give to the poor.”Never mind that the Bible and societal values say “thou shalt not steal.” Some belief in Robin’s mind made it OK to do something that he was most likely always told was wrong.

What did he tell himself? That he was doing it for others? That he was doing it in the name of fairness? That the rich had so much that they wouldn’t even notice? Whatever it was, he had something that he had convinced himself gave him permission to go against standard morals and values.

We all have well-rehearsed stories of permission. If our minds didn’t first create stories that made our actions OK, we wouldn’t be able to do them. We can’t act against our belief system. For instance, we may believe that porn is wrong, but if we believe even more strongly that we need it or deserve it, we will have gained the permission that we needed. Our stronger beliefs are the ones that always win.

When we want to change our lives or our behaviors, we first, with the help of God and others, need to change those internal stories.We need to determine what gives us permission to do something that we’ve already decided isn’t helpful or beneficial to our lives.

What habit or behavior do YOU want to change? What excuse (belief) keeps you going back to it time and time again?