I read a quote by Perry Noble the other day that caused me to stop and spend some time reflecting on it. The quote was, “The person who always has to blame is always lame.” This got me to thinking; am I a person who spends a lot of my energy and time blaming others for my actions, my mistakes, my shortcomings, etc.?
Many of us today seem somewhat incapable of taking the blame for our mistakes and failures in life. Instead we want to look at the people around us and pass it off on them. Unfortunately, this is nothing new. The blame game has been going on since the beginning of time. Do you remember the account of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3)? After they both had disobeyed God by eating of the forbidden fruit, neither one of them was willing to take responsibility for their sin. In fact, when God asked Adam if he’d eaten of the tree which he was commanded not to eat, Adam immediately blamed his disobedience on Eve: “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate” (Gen. 3:12). As if that weren’t bad enough, Adam seemed to push the blame even further away from himself when he said: “The woman whom you gave to be with me.” Not only is Adam blaming Eve for his actions, but it appears he had the audacity to blame God. Are you kidding? Really Adam?
As for Eve, she didn’t do any better when she had the opportunity to take responsibility for her actions. When God asked her what she had done, she said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate” (13). Eve followed in the steps of Adam and placed the blame on the serpent. Here we have two people who were clearly guilty of disobeying God and neither one wanted to take responsibility for their disobedience. Instead, they took the easy way out and placed the blame on someone else.
Friends, that’s just lame! If we are guilty (and we usually are) we need to take responsibility for what has happened. Paul wrote, “For each one will bear his own load” (Gal. 6:5). According to scripture each one of us is responsible before God for our actions, mistakes, struggles, etc. We better accept the blame and strive to make it right because we will eventually have to answer for it (Rom. 14:12; 2 Cor. 5:10). Don’t be lame, accept the blame and make things right!
Here are a few things to do when you are to blame (which is all the time) for your actions and disobedience.
- Pray and ask God to forgive you (I Jn. 1:9).
- If your actions have caused others pain, apologize to them and make things right (Matt. 5:23-24).
- Work on taking responsibility for your actions (Prov. 28:13).
Now that’s Something to Think About!
Prayer: Father, please help me to take responsibility for my actions, my mistakes, my struggles, my problems and every aspect of my life. When I am tempted to blame others for these things, please open my eyes to my personal responsibility. Help me to see that I have no one to blame but myself. Please forgive me for my need to blame others and help me to be more willing to accept responsibility for my actions and seek forgiveness. In Jesus name, Amen.