“It Takes A Thief…” (1 Corinthians 1:27)

“It takes a thief to catch a thief.”

President Franklin D. Roosevelt

When Franklin Roosevelt appointed Joseph P. Kennedy to head the newly formed Securities and Exchange Commission, Washington erupted in outrage. Kennedy, after all, had made a fortune on Wall Street and was rumored to have done so by exploiting loopholes others had not yet discovered. Why would Roosevelt put a man like that in charge of regulating the very system that made him rich?

The President’s response was disarming: “It takes a thief to catch a thief.”

Roosevelt understood something profound about human nature. Sometimes, the one who knows corruption best is also the one who can recognize it most clearly — and reform it most effectively. What others saw as hypocrisy, Roosevelt saw as redemption.

Scripture tells a similar story again and again.

Moses killed a man before God called him to deliver Israel.

David committed adultery and murder before God called him a man after His own heart.

Paul persecuted Christians before God transformed him into the Church’s greatest missionary.

It’s a pattern that defies logic — and magnifies grace.

God delights in taking what the world casts aside and reshaping it for His glory. The very experiences that once brought shame can become the instruments of healing and testimony. The one who knows the darkness best often becomes the most passionate bearer of light.

As Paul wrote:

But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise;

God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.

1 Corinthians 1:27 (ESV)

Roosevelt’s quote, meant for politics, echoes a timeless spiritual truth: God redeems the thief, the liar, the broken, and the lost — not merely to forgive them, but to use them.

Perhaps that’s why Jesus’ invitation still rings out with such tenderness:

“I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

Luke 5:32 (NKJV)

If you’ve ever wondered whether your past disqualifies you, remember: in God’s hands, even the thief becomes the instrument of redemption.

Lord, You have never required perfection before calling Your servants — only repentance and willingness. Redeem my past and reshape it for Your purpose. Let every scar become a testimony of Your mercy and every failure a reminder of Your grace. Amen.

Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life. 

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