Tuesday; September 9
One of the cool things
about our society is that we can always find someone to blame! While this is an especially fun game for
partisan groups, it is particularly effective for us as individuals. If I do something that was wrong, evil or
inappropriate, it is easy to fall back on the old standby – he/she/they/it made
me do it. (The pronoun isn’t important
because it is apt to change with our intended audience.) We can excuse ourselves and condemn our
favorite villain all in one fell swoop!
Now, I hope you realize
that the above was written as a tongue-in-cheek response to how easily it is to
try to shirk our personal responsibility.
When it all comes down to it, whether it is the words that come out of
our mouths, the sentences that come off our keyboards or the bullets that come
out of our guns, we are responsible for the decisions we make. It might be convenient to try to blame
someone or something else, but at the end of the day (and even more importantly
– at the end of our lives) we will be held accountable for what we say, express
or do! Can we cover it up on earth? Maybe.
Can we get someone to excuse us?
Probably. But, in the end, as we
stand before God, we won’t be able to fool the One who knows all and judges
all.
Years ago, when Jesus was
teaching His disciples about the consequences for actions, He observed, “But I
tell you that for every careless word that people speak,
they will give an account of it on the day of
judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your
words you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:36-37). Oh, and by the way, I truly believe that the
same standard that judges our words will be applied to our attitudes and
actions.
Folks, let’s not try to fool ourselves into believing
someone else is responsible for our choices.
The good news is that we always have options – the bad news is we will
be held accountable for them.
Think About It!