{"id":93015,"date":"2026-01-03T17:12:01","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T23:12:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=93015"},"modified":"2026-01-03T17:12:01","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T23:12:01","slug":"the-losers-limp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-losers-limp\/","title":{"rendered":"The Loser&#8217;s Limp"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\tby Ron Adams<br \/>\nvia\u00a0<em>Sentry Magazine<\/em>, Vol. 19 No. 3, September 1993\n<p>I recall that several years ago, I heard a guest speaker refer to the &#8216;loser&#8217;s limp.&#8217; This phrase, he said, described the feigning of a handicap as the reason for not acting appropriately or not performing as required.<\/p>\n<p>All of us know when we fail in our efforts. We know when we fail in job performance, family obligations, or our actions towards others. We feel the sting of our conscience pricking us. Feelings of guilt rush into our consciousness. Such feelings are troubling and must be dealt with.<\/p>\n<p>If we are honest, we will admit to ourselves (and others) that we have fallen short, and with a change of heart, determine to correct the problem. If we seek to justify our failures, we develop the &#8216;loser&#8217;s limp&#8217;-blaming some influence, force, or circumstance for our poor performance.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;I can&#8217;t because&#8230;&#8221; is offered as justification for inaction.<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;He made me do it&#8230;&#8221; is submitted as the cause of irrational behavior.<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;If it weren&#8217;t for&#8230;&#8221; is submitted as a defense for wrongdoing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Like the runner who, after running a poor race and feeling bad about his performance, conveniently develops a limp just before crossing the finish line, he thereby attempts to convince the observers that &#8220;it&#8217;s not my fault, I&#8217;m not able. Don&#8217;t criticize me. See, I have a limp!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, people develop the &#8216;loser&#8217;s limp&#8217; when attempting to defend their transgressions, their insensitivity to the needs of others, and their poor attitude toward assembling for worship. They deceive themselves, thinking they are excused or justified. Most of the time, such limping is convincing only to the one doing it. Whether others buy such excuses is really unimportant; what is important is that the Lord scoffs at such nonsense. &#8220;<em>Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us <\/em><em>not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith<\/em>&#8221; (Galatians 6:7-10).<\/p>\n<p>Next time we find ourselves falling short in our performance as a Christian, let&#8217;s not feign the loser&#8217;s limp, but stand upright and accept full responsibility for our actions. Then, and only then, we are in a position to make the needed changes, to receive forgiveness from the Lord, and to have the support and understanding of the brethren.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Ron Adams via\u00a0Sentry Magazine, Vol. 19 No. 3, September 1993 I recall that several years ago, I heard a guest speaker refer to the &#8216;loser&#8217;s limp.&#8217; This phrase, he said, described the feigning of a handicap as the reason for not acting appropriately or not performing as required. All of us know when we&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[608],"class_list":["post-93015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-excuses"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":77994,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wrestling-with-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":93015,"position":0},"title":"Wrestling with God","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 14, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer The narrative of Jacob includes the intriguing account of Jacob wrestling with God (Genesis 32:22-32). Jacob had been out of the land for a few decades and finally returned. The night before meeting Esau again, Jacob was left alone, and the text says, \"a man wrestled with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22234,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-good-in-a-relationship-to-express-our-true-feelings-so-we-can-know-each-other-better\/","url_meta":{"origin":93015,"position":1},"title":"Is it good in a relationship to express our true feelings so we can know each other better?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 18, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Your advice is really solid. One thing we've decided to do in our relationship is to give each other the freedom to express our true feelings and reaction so we can know each other better. Sometimes things get too bad, and we end up emotionally hurt. But we don't\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28235,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-we-trust-our-feelings-about-salvation\/","url_meta":{"origin":93015,"position":2},"title":"Can We Trust Our Feelings About Salvation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 4, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Mike Johnson via\u00a0simplebiblestudies.com Some people claim to rely solely on their feelings for assurance of personal salvation. They may say, \"I know that I am saved because I feel that I am.\" They will often ignore very plain passages in the Bible about salvation because of a \"feeling\" that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/deli.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":47649,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/just-telling-what-i-feel\/","url_meta":{"origin":93015,"position":3},"title":"Just Telling What I Feel","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 27, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer That our culture has been trained to act more on feelings than objective truth and reality is evident in so many ways that it hardly needs proving. The outbursts of anger, the murders, the sexual abuses, the lack of civility, the completely irrational denials of reality, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":87323,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/becoming-fools\/","url_meta":{"origin":93015,"position":4},"title":"Becoming Fools","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 29, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Chadwick Brewer \"Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise\" (I Corinthians 3:18). There is a huge stumbling block that we place before our children and ourselves. We praise one\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5282,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/freedom\/","url_meta":{"origin":93015,"position":5},"title":"Freedom","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 4, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer \u201cLive as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God\u201d (I Peter 2:16). If we really wish to honor freedom, then we will seek to live as servants of God. We cannot expect that God will\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Freedom-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93015\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}