The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.
Genesis 3:12–13, ESV
“I am sorry!”
That is all that needs to be said.
“I am sorry!”
But we have a hard time leaving it at that. There are all kinds of excuses we come up with. We tend to see ourselves more as victims than offenders.
We allow other people’s bad behavior and poor decisions to justify our own bad behavior. The other person made me angry, so that is why I lost my temper. The other person doesn’t respect me, so that is why I am not giving them respect.
We blame the culture, the system, the management, the politicians, and more. Someone or something outside of us compelled us. That is the reason for our inaction. That is the reason for our offense. We absolve ourselves from any personal responsibility.
We blame God. We might say that is just the way God made me. I can’t help myself.
Nothing is new. It goes all the way back to the first sin. Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the serpent. But we don’t answer for other people’s actions. We answer for our own. You can’t control what other people do. But you can control how you respond.
If you need an excuse, any excuse will do. Other people don’t care about your excuses. Our excuses are more for ourselves than for anyone else.
Take personal responsibility. Receive Jesus’ forgiveness. Say, “I am sorry. Will you forgive me?” Who is it that you owe an apology? Go now! Don’t make excuses. Don’t pass the blame.
Leave a Reply