A leopard can’t change his spots.
You’ve heard that expression before.
It rolls off our tongue. We hear it on talk shows and radio programs.
Maybe you have said it of another, maybe others have said it of you.
But what do you think about it?
There is a sense of defeatism in those words.
There is a trajectory towards fatalism in that statement.
It basically is saying the bad people can’t change.
That damaged people can’t heal.
That broken people can’t be helped.
I don’t know about that!
Even though that might be your experience
and I find myself agreeing with the statement, when change is attempted in our own strength.
But I wonder if there is a greater agent of change available.
I wonder at the Power of the Gospel!
And that leads me to marvel at the cross!
And that helps me to receive love, forgiveness and purpose!
And the end result is hope for a better story!
No, a leopard can’t change his spots.
But the leopard’s Creator CAN!
Can an Ethiopian change his skin or a leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil.
— Jeremiah 13:23