Johnny Manziel—the self-destructive youth who went from the first college freshman to win the Heisman Trophy, to the 22nd player drafted by the Cleveland Browns—too bad they didn’t choose Derek Carr, who instead went to Oakland—to a failure as a NFL quarterback—is finished with football as a career at age 28. Just when NFL quarterbacks reach their prime. His arrogance, undisciplined lifestyle and immaturity rivaled Ryan Leaf’s fall from pinnacle to pavement.
Manziel admits that he beat himself up for the wrongs he committed, the failures marking his pro career, the bungling in showing off in personal affairs, instead of showing up to play. Then he made two revealing statements. One, “It clouded my judgment of who I was as a person.” Two, “I almost resented myself a little bit.”—though he’s at peace with himself now. San Diego U-T, 2/14/21 In replying to the first statement, consider that his decisions revealed him as a person, not clouded who he was. They demonstrated his brat nature, whose skill in football got him through Texas A & M in style, but couldn’t prevent his fall to shame in pro football. Replying to the second statement, consider that he completely misunderstood Christ’s statement in Matthew 5:3-4, and therefore isn’t a candidate for discipleship. For Jesus didn’t say we should “almost resent” ourselves “a little bit.” In fact, he said nothing of the kind. He did say there, and repeated it elsewhere, Matthew 16:24-26 a prime example, that we should MOURN…over our sins. Mourn, as in being terribly sorry for them, as in hating them, as in repenting of them to the point that we didn’t ever want to commit them again. But he never said, “resent” yourself. Or resent yourself a little “bit”. Indeed, as God’s child, made in his image and likeness, humans are to LOVE others as we LOVE ourselves Mark 12:31. And…loving who we are by being created by God, for God, we hate only the sin that separates us, not the person who made us or the one he created. Self-loathing is neither practical nor Biblical. Sin-loathing is both. And practicing the latter will initially and continually inspire repentance and reinforce the denial of self-will that proves young Johnny Manziel is simply an unreconstructed spiritual rebel still in love with his fallen nature—which will never lead him to mourn for and repent of his sins against God.
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