1 Now the serpent was more crafty
than any of the wild animals the LORD
God had made. He said to the woman, "Did
God really say, 'You must not eat from
any tree in the garden'?"
2 The
woman said to the serpent, "We may eat
fruit from the trees in the garden, 3
but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit
from the tree that is in the middle of
the garden, and you must not touch it,
or you will die.' "
4 "You will
not surely die," the serpent said to the
woman. 5 "For God knows that when you
eat of it your eyes will be opened, and
you will be like God, knowing good and
evil."
6 When the woman saw that
the fruit of the tree was good for food
and pleasing to the eye, and also
desirable for gaining wisdom, she took
some and ate it. She also gave some to
her husband, who was with her, and he
ate it.
12 The man said, "The
woman you put here with me-she gave me
some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."
13 Then the LORD God said to the
woman, "What is this you have done?" The
woman said, "The serpent deceived me,
and I ate." (Genesis 3:1-6,
12-13)
Thought:
Blame shifting has been going on for
a long time. In fact, . . . let me think
. . . I believe it was the firstcouple
(no, not George and Laura Bush) who
committed the very first sin!
Adam blamed Eve. Eve shifted the blame
to the serpent, and the serpent . . .
well, there's no record who that
snake-in-the-grass blamed, but I can
guess.
Actually, Adam was
tempted to sin because of Eve (Genesis
3:6) and the serpent was pretty slick in
the way he tempted Eve (v.1-6). But the
blame still stays with the one who does
the sinning. Just because Adam asks Eve
to pass the fruit, he's not allowed to
pass the buck. And he not only blamed
Eve, he also shifted the blame over to
God.
Passing the buck is
definitely easier than being accountable
for our actions. But if we never admit
our own guilt, it's easier to sin again,
easier to rationalize that "It wasn't
really my fault," or "Anybody would have
done the same thing I did."
Sin
is never justifiable. It doesn't matter
what prompts or motivates it. We will
always face temptations.
God
looks at it all exactly the same: It's
disobedience. It's wrong. It's sin.
Sadly, we find lots of opportunities
in our culture to perpetuate the idea of
unjustified "victim" status. But blaming
others and rationalizing is just another
way of covering up our sin. Each of us
is faced with a choice when tempted to
disobey.
The way back to a right
relationship with God comes only through
confessing and forsaking our sin and
trusting in His forgiveness (1 John
1:8-9). But before we can do that, we
must admit that we and we alone are
responsible for what we've done. It's
the only way to gain freedom from guilt
and victory over sin.
Questions to consider:
* Have I ever blamed someone else
when I yielded to temptation? Who was
it? What part of that sin was I
responsible for?
* Is there
someone I have been blaming for messing
up my life? Will I turn that burden over
to God?
* What sin am I
rationalizing right now? Will I take
sole responsibility for it? Confess it
and forsake it?
Links: (When avail. copy & paste into
your web browser)
