The Blame Game

Scripture:

Genesis 3:12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Observation:

The man and the woman were living a peaceful life in paradise when suddenly the serpent came and tempted them. They succumbed to the temptation and ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. As a result their relationship with God, their creator, was changed. No longer were they comfortable spending time in God’s presence but they went and hid themselves. God knew that something was wrong.

As God reached out to them he discovered what had happened and the blame game began. The man blamed both the woman and God for eating the fruit. God gave the man the woman so obviously his sin was God’s fault. If only God hadn’t have created that woman! It was also the woman’s fault for she handed him the fruit. 

God gave the woman a moment to respond as well. The blame game went even further and she told him that it was the fault of the serpent. He had deceived her — she really didn’t know what she was doing — and so she ate.

Neither the man nor the woman took responsibility for their own actions. God had made it clear that they were not to eat from that tree but it was easier to blame something else than to confess their own sin.

Application:

It’s easy to get caught in the blame game. Taking responsibility for our own actions is not something that we like to do. We would probably fit right in there with Adam and Eve, pointing fingers at others and saying that they made us do it!

We will face temptations in life and we must consider how we will respond. We have personal responsibility when it comes to the choices we make. Blaming someone else for our circumstances simply doesn’t work.

If we find ourselves in the midst of difficulty don’t give in to the temptation to blame everyone else around you. Adam and Eve refused to admit  that they had been personally disobedient. They had to live with the consequences of their action  and the sad truth is that the consequences were far reaching, not just in their own lives but in generations to come.

When we stop playing the blame game, God can work. He needs to get at the root issues in our own lives. Blaming others is simply a cover up for our own short comings. God wants to help us in our areas of weakness and this can only be done when we come before him as authentic and transparent followers. We need God to touch us at the point of our greatest weakness for in that moment we become strong. Blaming never allows for God to do his transformational work in and through us. It’s time to stop and let God, through the Holy Spirit, make us strong.

Prayer:

Lord, thank you for your work in and through us. Please help me not to blame others for where I find myself in life.  Amen.
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