Is Blame Weighing You Down

NLT (New Living Translation): “Therefore since we are surrounded by such huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress.  And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. (2) We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish.  He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy He knew would be His afterwards.  Now He is seated in the place of the highest honor beside God’s throne in heaven.”

Weight # 2  - Blame

To blame means to criticize or to find fault.  We have the great ability of denial.  We can be caught right in the act of wrong and deny everything.  We can detach ourselves from our words and our behaviors.  We can claim no responsibilities for the consequences of our poor choices.  We can claim life has not been fair, and some will go as far to say God is mean.  We can look at everything in a negative light.  Man has the great ability to let pleasure and self gratification become his excuse and reason to hide.

Some time ago I watched a show called To Catch a Predator.  This show was focused on catching those who wanted to have sex with under-aged girls in Kentucky.  Many men were lured in on a chat line by a girl who they thought was 13 years old and home alone for the weekend.  They chatted telling this young lady what all they wanted to do to and with her.  Some were married, some law enforcement officers, and one even had Cerebral Palsy.  Some came after a 20 minute chat because they were lonely and others had spent months chatting with the young lady.  There were some who drove to the designated location for one hour and the guy with Cerebral Palsy drove to the location from five hours away.  Little did they know the girl was an actress and they had been set up on television.  When each of them was questioned about their intentions with the young girl, they all went into denial mode.  One man even blamed the young girl by stating she was teasing him and wanted him to teach her about life.  (BLAME)

Adam blamed Eve for eating the fruit.  The children of Israel blamed Moses, for their past, and for their current situation.  Joseph’s brothers blamed a wild animal.  Who or what are you blaming for the actions that you have?  What are you hiding behind?  Are you blaming your childhood?  What about your parents?  Maybe it’s poverty that you blame or the color you were born?  What about your appearance or an illness you might or may have had?  What are you putting the blame on?  One of the consequences of sin is a distortion of our vision and of God.  Stop the blame game and take responsibility for your own actions and reactions.