Blaming Others Is Not The Answer

“Then the man and his life heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’ He answered, ‘I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.’ And he said, ‘Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to ear from?’ ‘The man said, ‘The woman you put here with me – she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.’ Then the Lord God said to the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’ The woman said, ‘The serpent deceived me, and I ate.’” (Genesis 3:8-13) 
 
Yesterday we talked about living a guilt-free life, and how being free of guilt comes from finding freedom in Christ. Unfortunately, we don’t always immediately run to Jesus to find that freedom. Instead we try to get rid of our guilt by blaming others. This deflection method originates all the way back to the beginning of humanity.  
 
When Adam and Eve first sinned in the Garden of Eden, they were not quick to fess up to their own mistakes. Instead, they blamed someone else. Adam blamed Eve for giving him the fruit, and then went a step further and blamed God for giving him Eve. Then when Eve was questioned, she blamed the serpent for tricking her into eating the forbidden fruit.  
 
Part of our sinful nature is to redirect our negative feelings and emotions onto other people. We don’t want to take responsibility for our actions if we can cast that responsibility onto someone else, whether that’s another person or God Himself. But as followers of Christ, that’s not how we are instructed to handle our mistakes and our guilt. Rather than shifting the blame, we should take ownership of our sin and our guilt and repent of it. In doing so, we will continue taking steps forward in the process of sanctification and therefore become more like Jesus.  
 
Have you been blaming someone else for your sin and your guilt? Do you think it’s time you take ownership of your mistakes and confess them to the Lord? If so, I would encourage you to take care of that confession today and repent of your sins. Once you do, you can begin to experience the freedom there is to be found in Christ.