Welcome to the INAUGURAL edition of Rubies
(A special column of articles for ladies here at the PFP!)
Growing up, I played the blame game often. You see, as a ten year old, my parents divorced and left the church. For the next few years, it was easy for me to blame my lack of faithfulness and genuineness on my parents and my situation, instead of realizing that I was responsible for my own sins (Ezekiel 18:20).
While every scenario is different, the end result is the same: if we play the blame game, we lose. If we blame our sins on others, we will lose our pure heart to a heart of bitterness. If we blame our sins on our circumstances and individual situations, we will lose our willingness to repent, ultimately leading to our spiritual death. If nothing is ever our fault, we will never feel the need to beg for our forgiveness, nor will we grasp the need of Jesus’ precious, innocent blood.
The game is so inviting, though. It is so easy to look to our dysfunctional families and point the finger of our unfaithfulness. It is easy to look to our preacher and point the finger of not knowing enough. It is easy to look to our friends and point the finger of bad habits, gossip, and crude jokes. It is so easy, too easy, to look to all of those around us and blame each of them for all of our failures.
So how can we win the blame game? How can we overcome this ‘it’s everyone else’s fault’ mindset? The answer is simple: the same way we overcome any temptation-- by fixing our eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2).
If ever there lived an individual who could blame others, it was Jesus. He was beaten, mocked, scourged, spat upon, and crucified all for the sins of others (1 Peter 2:24, 1 John 4:10), yet Scripture tells us that He never even opened His mouth to object or complain (Isaiah 53:7). Jesus, God Himself in the flesh, could have at any moment blamed us, the sinful created. As He was hanging in such agony on that rugged cross, He could have cried out that it was our fault and that we should be the ones hanging there. Instead, He said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34). Should we ever feel the need to blame someone else for our sins, let us only praise God instead, thanking Him for placing the blame on His sinless Son.
Today, let us purpose to win the blame game: by recognizing our own shortcomings and asking our merciful heavenly Father to forgive. It is only in this scenario that we can ever win the blame game, because to blame anyone or anything else for our sins is to leave those sins to our charge.