In life we often try to blame other people for our problems or the direction our life is taking. If things are not going well for us at a church it is the churches fault and we get mad and leave. If we fall into a party life style and get drunk all the time and do other things we shouldn’t we blame our friends. If things are not going the way we like and seems like everyone is not working with us in an organization or something we blame the organization as a whole. My question to you is that right? Yes I believe that bad company corrupts good character(1Cor. 15:33) but can we place the blame fully on those people? Is not an ounce of it our own fault.
With this thought process I realized a very important truth that is too often overlooked. That truth is that we cannot blame our sin on something or someone other than ourselves. We forget that we have a sinful nature and we have self centered desires of our hearts. We see this idea in James 1 where James is talking about temptations.“
This scripture is very clear cut on how sin enters. It is us being pulled away by our own desires. We are sinful people and there is no way around that fact. I listed three areas in which we try to pass the blame off at the beginning of this blog. One was while at church. This is one I hear a lot. It seems that we get upset at a church and instead of looking within our own hearts for why we are upset we blame the church and try to find another one. Then when we are at the new one the same problems arise and its back to square 1 and us finding a new church again. Who would you say is to blame for that? Is it every church or maybe is it deeper?
How about the second example of friends. We fall into a life style of drinking or partying or sex or anything. Whose fault is it? Well lets blame our friends that just seems like the easy excuse. And sure maybe your friends tempted you to drink or go to that party but could you have not said no? I have met people who when they started drinking they said that it was just going to be one here and there and it wasn't going to be bad, and the next thing I know they were drinking all the time and were going past their limits. Whose fault is that? Their friends?
What about the final example of organizations? This could go for any organization religious or not. We tend to get frustrated to the point that we give up or just complain all the time. Is that right? Now yes many organizations have problems but what is the root of that problem? Another question is what are you truly doing to fix it? Too often we see problems and instead of trying to fix them we gossip about them and in turn make things worse. But we still blame ether the person in charge or other people in the organization instead of ever looking at ourselves. Is that right?
The bad problem in all these situations is that we cannot ever admit that we are ever in the wrong. I am probably the worst at this. I truthfully would rather blame someone else for why my life is messed up then ever admit that maybe deep down it is all because of me and my hidden sin. For example I once worked at a church for a short time in which I blamed everything that went wrong on the church instead of ever taking a good deep look inside my heart to see if maybe there was more to it. If I look back now I have to admit that I was not in a good place and a lot of went wrong boiled down to my own sin. Why are we so scared of admitting that maybe when everything is going wrong that maybe it has something to do with us?
It is tough to even think about admitting that part of the problem is our own sin. Honestly if every time you walk into church you get mad or just feel like everything is wrong, check your heart. When you walk into church you are going to praise and worship the creator of the world. Even at what some would consider the worst churches you can still encounter God if you seek him. And the moment you stop seeking him you are sinning.
In an organization it will fall apart if the members are not willing to be honest with each other. Too often we get upset with people in those situations and instead of talking to the person we are upset with we end up gossiping and complaining about them to everyone. Which in turn makes us fall into sin. We need to begin to follow what the bible says in these situations and if we have a problem go and talk out with the person. You know the bible says in Matthew 5 that if you have a problem with someone or someone has a problem with you, you are not supposed to make an offering to God until you go and seek out that person and reconcile. We need to begin to follow that model because the reason things may not be working is because deep down there are some issues between people that just simply need to be talked out by them and not anyone else.
I admit this is a very long blog but I was really thinking about this tonight. We lose sight on God and the fact that we are sinful. There is no way around that truth. So as you think about this today take a deep look into your own life and figure out what is holding you back. Unconfessed sin to God is sin that is holding you back from worshiping Him fully. It is time for us to step up and stop hiding behind all our excuses and confess that maybe its our sinful state that is causing these things. And if it is things like Parties or drinking or things like that maybe its time for us to confess to it being our own sinful desires and turn our back on that. Truly seek him today and find out with He wants to teach you. God will help you if you want it.
I love you all
Brent
