Blame Game

by Timothy Fortune

Most everyone at some point in there life has played the blame game. You may have been in elementary school and you blamed the reason for throwing the spit wad on the person beside you, who dared you to do it. Most who have siblings have at one time or another put the blame on them for something they did. Or maybe you blamed the dog for eating you homework when in fact you just didn’t do it. Or we try to blame our sins on the circumstances around us. Well, I did this sin because of.... I didn’t have a choice. Or this is a good one, “The devil made me do it”

The blame game is as old as Adam and Eve. In Genesis 3 when God came looking for Adam in the Garden of Eden, he responded, “We hide our selves because we were naked.” God asked, “Who told you that you were naked, have you eaten of the tree I told you not to?” Adam immediately blamed the women God had given him saying, “She made me do it.” Eve blamed the serpent. Neither of them were willing to take responsibility for there own actions. They both paid the price for there disobedience, yet Scripture never says if they owned up to there behavior or not. Now, can you see Eve holding down Adam and forcing him to eat of the fruit of the tree? No!!! Adam chose.

Another example of people playing the blame game is found in Exodus 32. Moses was on the mountain with God and had been up there for some time. So the people had made a golden calf, worshiped it and made sacrifices to this man made idol. God spoke to Moses and said, “Get down from the mountain because the people have corrupted themselves.” So Moses descends from the mountain and hears the sound of singing. He came to the camp and saw the calf that they were worshiping. Moses then burned it, ground the ashes into powder and scattered the powder in the water forcing the people to drink the water. Moses then confronts Aaron about the matter. Aaron said, “You know the people how they are set on evil. They said to me, “Make us gods that shall go before us... So I said to them, “Whoever has gold give it to me and I cast it into the fire and this calf came out.” It was a miracle!! They throw in gold and out jumped this calf made of solid gold. WOW did Aaron think Moses was born the night before? Moses wasn’t stupid. As foolish as that sounded then to Moses, so does our response sound today when we try to blame our actions on someone or something else.

There comes a time when you have to own up to your actions and take responsibility for your behavior. When we blame others and circumstances for our behavior, whom do we think we are fooling? We might fool somebody for some time but we can’t fool everybody all the time, and besides, God knows the heart anyway. God knows our inner most being; we cannot pull the wool over His eyes. He created us and knows how we tick. Again we can deceive ourselves but we will never deceive God.

The truth is, that neither the devil nor circumstances have control over us. We ultimately make the decision. Satan was defeated some two thousand years ago, Jesus defeated him and he has no power over us. Colossians 2:15 say’s, “He (Jesus) disarmed principalities and powers...triumphing over them...” So when temptation and persuasion to do wrong pulls on us we don’t have to give in. If we do it is our choice. And let me say this if you are in a place that is causing you to constantly sin then maybe you should look at getting out of that situation. 1 Corinthians 10:13 say’s, “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man, but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape that you may be able to bear it.” Now if God has made a way of escape then we can blame no one but our self for our actions. So when temptation comes your way know that God has made a way of escape. If we don’t choose it, it’s not God’s fault.

Pointing fingers to something other than who is to blame only causes the matter to worsen. When we do this, not only are we denying owning up to something we did, but also we lie about it. Only complicating the situation. Jesus said you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. Neither lying nor playing the blame game will set you free, only the truth.

In 2 Samuel 12 King David is on his throne and the profit Nathan is telling the king a story of a rich man. This rich man had many flocks but this poor man only had one lamb. Now the poor mans lamb grow up with his children, it was like a daughter to the poor man. A traveler visited the rich man and instead of taking one of his on lambs he took the poor mans lamb and prepared it for the traveler. Scripture says that David’s anger was greatly aroused, demanding to know who this man was and that he should pay fourfold for taking the lamb. Nathan looked at David and said, “You are the man!” Nathan then tells King David that he has killed Uriah and took his wife for himself. But here is the thing about David. He immediately recognized his sin and acknowledged it. He didn’t play the blame game but took responsibility for his actions. Now there were consequences for his actions but David still confessed to what he had done. Nathan told him after his confession that God has put away your sin and that David would not die.

In Jonah chapter 1 Jonah is running from God. He has purchased a ticket to Tarshish. While on the ship sailing to Tarshish they encounter a storm. Now this was a fierce storm, so strong that the ship was about to be broken. The captain finds Jonah asleep in the bottom of the boat, wakes him and tells him to call on his God. Then the crew say’s lets cast lots to see who is to cause for this trouble. So the lot falls on Jonah. Jonah tells the men his story and they are afraid. Jonah owned up to his actions. He could have lied about the matter but instead he chose to tell the truth. As it turns out the men believed in the God of Jonah. Jonah gets a free ride to Nineveh and the town is saved. All turned out well. But who knows what could have happened if he had chosen not to tell the truth. Perhaps God might not have spared the ship and all could have been lost. It could have easily gone that way if Jonah had not taken the responsibility for his mistake.

What causes people to refuse to take responsibility? Is it their pride, maybe they have a hard time believing they are wrong, or trying to look good. Scripture says pride goes before a fall. Don’t let pride keep you from having peace with God, yourself and those around you.

We can look over a child trying to blame their actions on something else. They are young and are learning. But as adults we should act like adults and not try to blame our deeds on things around us.

The blame game really can be summed up in one word...lying!!!!

It is time we began to be honest about our lives and taking responsibility for our actions. We can’t hide from God so let’s make a decision today that we will stop playing the blame game. Time is of the essence and too many people are hurting and in need of us to be real!!! God is searching for those who will worship Him in spirit and in truth. How can we worship Him in truth if we are lying about our on actions? I believe if we will become more transparent and honest then that will be the beginning of something great God desires to do in us. But it’s going to require us to be open, stop playing the blame game and being real.