Social media
is sodden with people refuse to take responsibility for their own actions. Not
trying to be negative, just looking at the facts. The fact is, playing the
blame game is one of the most destructive human pastimes. I wish I could say
that this is unique to the culture today but if you look throughout the
scriptures you see individuals and even nations trying to do just that shift
the blame…
Right from
the beginning we Adam and Eve in the garden and what happens? Adam blames Eve
(the woman God gave him) and Eve blames the Serpent (whom God placed in the
Garden…) Cain killed Abel because God didn’t honor his sacrifice… And this is
just in the first few chapters… Notice who ultimately gets the blame when we
shift it from ourselves? God…
James gives
us some instruction regarding trying to shift blame in the second part of
chapter one:
No one undergoing a trial should say,
“I am being tempted by God.” For God is not tempted by evil, and He
Himself doesn’t tempt anyone. But each person is tempted when he is drawn
away and enticed by his own evil desires. Then after desire has conceived,
it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death. –
James 1:13-15
God isn’t
the one at fault when we make a mistake, we are… Now this doesn’t mean there
are not outside influences that play a role in our falling to temptation, but
look at what it says! We are drawn away and enticed not by Satan’s evil
desires, not by the evil desires of our neighbor, or by the influence of anyone
else… it is our own evil desires. “We
have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust…[1]”
If we are
going to live out a gospel centered life, a life guided by the principles of
the book of James we need to cease this madness.
Imagine the
world if we each would own our own mistakes?
If we would
only give up the idea that someone always has to be blamed and made to pay. We need to accept the fact that everyday life isn’t a court of law and we are not the judge and jury.
By accepting
yourself and others unconditionally we live as Christ. This doesn’t mean you
can’t negatively rate your own actions or those of others; but it does mean
that you shouldn’t berate yourself or others.
Ultimately we
only achieve victory in Christ. It is in Christ we can overcome this need to
blame someone else for our failures and actually make progress towards the goal
set forth for us in James 1:4 “…that you may be mature and complete, lacking
nothing.”
Will you
live a Gospel Centered James focused life?
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