Don’t Blame Me

 

 

I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.  Psalm 32:5

 

We make decisions every day: Work, financial, clothing, food, discipline of the children, entertainment, and more.  We decide where we will go, whom we will talk to, and how we will respond to every situation that comes up.

One of the scariest verses in the Bible says that we will be held accountable (before God at judgment) for every careless word that comes out of our mouths (Matthew 12:36). I wonder where that leaves a careless decision, one that has not considered God or His Law.

We are personally responsible for every decision we make. It is easy to point the blame to someone else when those decisions don’t work out well.  The Bible teaches, “Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. Each one shall be put to death for his own sin,” (Deuteronomy 24:16),

Though we are molded by the way we are raised and the traumas we experience in this life, we are accountable, before God, for how we respond. The fact is, our culture has decided to take personal responsibility and lay it at the feet of whomever we please.

• If I have an abortion, it is because I am forced to by those who won’t give me the money or time I need to raise a child.
• If I steal, it is society’s fault because others have more than I do.
• If I am having sex before marriage, my father didn’t pay enough attention to me.
• If I fail in school, the system does not have the right curriculum for me.
• If my neighbor gets shot, the gun laws are to blame.
• If I die of lung cancer, the cigarette manufacturers are at fault.

 

You get the idea. We cannot, as Christians, adopt this kind of thinking. We are “overcomers” (1 John 4:4, 5:4) in Christ.

Casting blame is as old as Adam and Eve. Adam blamed Eve for his sin. Eve blamed the serpent for hers.

God sees the heart. He knows where the blame lies and is right there, willing to hear our confession, and forgive our sin. When we blame others, rather than taking responsibility for it ourselves, we lose the blessing of God’s mercy and grace.

He clearly tells us that we are each responsible for what we do, every action and every decision. Do you and I honor (and serve) God in word and deeds?

Without Christ, “Each one shall be put to death for his own sin.”

With Christ, we receive blessing for obedience and curses for disobedience. Not humbly taking personal responsibility, and not acknowledging the Law of God in our lives, is disobedience.

What have you (and I) been blaming on someone else that should be confessed and turned from, before God?