Have you ever done something wrong to someone and when they ask you why did you do that ? You say, " I only did it because of what you did to me ." I don't know about you, you may be perfect but I have done that. And if you were to ask the other person why did you do the thing you did to me? They may say they were responding to something you did prior 🤦🏾♂️. With behaviors like this it is no wonder our relationships are so difficult with each other. But this attitude didn't start with me or you. It started with the Devil in heaven. When the devil rebelled in heaven, he blamed God for his rebellion, refused to repent. Basically saying " if we were not reproved, we wouldn't have rebelled." (Story of redemption)
Then we saw Adam and Eve did the same thing after they sinned. When God asked Adam what happened? What did you do? Adam acknowledged guilt but blamed his wife and God for his guilt. He said "the woman whom you gave me gave me of the fruit and I ate." Basically telling God I am a victim of circumstances, a victim of your gift ,the woman. Eve said the same thing," the serpent deceived me and I ate ." Basically saying, "God why did you create the serpent 🐍? Why did you allow it to enter Eden." It is the spirit of self justification and it has its origin with the devil. This spirit prevents us from seeing our part in a conflict and it makes us very ugly to be with.
Even in prayer we do things like that. Lord, forgive me for getting mad at my spouse and yell, you know I only got mad because...stop 🚫! Once you start saying because, you are doing the same thing Adam and Eve did. Telling God you only did evil because of someone else. This is not true repentance. Friends, no one is responsible for our own behaviors. Your daddy, your spouse, your friends are not responsible for your behaviors. They may influence you but you make the choices. Matter of fact not even the devil is responsible for the things you do. The devil brings the temptations, but you choose to act. He cannot choose for you .
To repent is to acknowledge that I alone am responsible for what I did. It is to come to the Lord and say Lord I have sinned against you, please have mercy upon me. This is one of the reason the Bible say King David was a man according to God's own heart. When David was reproved for his sin with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, he did not seek to justify himself and say Bathsheba made me sin by taking a bath naked by my house. She should have known better. Had she not been there, I wouldn't have sinned etc.. but when the prophet Nathan said "you are the man," David said I have sinned and the prophet Nathan said the Lord has forgiven you.He was forgiven because he acknowledged his guilt. In psalm 51, he said I acknowledge my iniquities. King Saul on the other hand was the opposite, he blamed the people and everyone else for his sins and as a result he never truly repented and God had no choice but to cast him off. Friends, nothing makes us more ugly then when we refuse to acknowledge our fault and seek to blame others. Nothing makes us more beautiful when we have the courage to say yes, I had no right to do what I did, I am wrong and I bear the sole responsibility. When I began to understand that I alone was responsible for my actions, it changed a lot of things. It made me very careful in how I live.
Knowing that you alone are responsible for your action will change how you approach God and how you live with one another. It empowers you, because you know that God has given you the power of self control. Blaming others for our actions rob us of our humanity, it turns us into slaves. But we are not slaves. Friends, if you want to have beautiful relationships with God, with others, take accountability. Learn what it means to truly repent. Don't blame your spouse anymore for your cheating habits. Dont blame others for you being angry, bitter and miserable. Take responsibility, say Lord I am a bitter, angry person, have mercy upon me and forgive me.
When we acknowledge our guilt, God sees us as His children, He sees true humility. When we acknowledge our guilt, others see us as people of integrity, people who despite our past wrong doing can be trusted. Trying to hide our wrongs under the deception of self justification only reveal our wickedness, show that we are not to be trusted. Friends, let us ask God for the courage to truly repent, to not do like Satan, Adam and Eve and blame others for actions, but to be like David and say I have sinned. Learn what true repentance is and your relationships will be very beautiful. Knowing you alone are responsible for your actions will make you go to God to ask Him for wisdom on how to live right. In the day of judgment, the question will be the same as with Adam, did you do what I told you not to do? We will not be able to blame anyone else. So let us start getting ready today and let us learn to practice true repentance before the Lord and to say Lord, forgive me, I acknowledge my iniquity and the Lord will abundantly pardon us .
Jeremiah 3:13
Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.
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