Blame is an easy thing to pass. When we get caught, the first thing we like to do is point the finger… at the circumstances, at who set us up and/or who should have stopped us. The harder thing, is to stand up and take ownership. When you are faced with punishment and consequences… that’s when you find out what kind of man you are, what you are really made of. When you get pulled over for speeding, whose fault is it? The poorly marked road, the traffic that is too fast and tricking you, your car that just loves to go fast?

When you get laid off, whose fault is it? The boss’ because they never really liked you? The kids that made you so tired that you couldn’t function? The customer that pushed your buttons? God’s?

With sin, the same rational is all too easy. We can blame our circumstances, we can blame our parents for the way they raised us and we can even blame God... the last thing we want to do is take the blame. I am really encouraged and challenged by what Paul says in Romans 7: 21-24; “Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! “

Paul realized that it was the sin living inside of him that was causing his actions. He was a slave to this sin and therefore the good that he intentioned never came out. James has this same teaching in the metaphor of tongue as a spring. James 3: 10-12 says “Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.”

What Paul and James are trying to tell us is that the blame for our sin can be found within ourselves… it is the master that we have enslaved ourselves to… it’s a result of the condition of our heart. Satan can only tempt us, he cannot burrow into our head and force us to act. He cannot make you do something or force you to walk away from God… those are all decisions we make on our own! Our sin is a result of our choices, our sin separates us from God, but “Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:25) If you want to change, start at the root. Take a good look at your heart. Make the changes needed so that God can live inside of you through the Holy Spirit and allow all of his fruit to flow out of you.

Striving alongside you for the prize,

Jay Cline