Take Responsibility

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God

You may have to be a little older to remember a comedian named Flip Wilson. He was a favored guest on many of the late 60’s and early 70’s variety shows on TV, and eventually hosted his own TV program, The Flip Wilson Show. In 1970, he received a Grammy Award for a record album “The Devil Made Me Buy This Dress!” He created a character named Geraldine Jones, and whenever she did something wrong she’d say, “The devil made be do it!” She (Geraldine) never took responsibility for anything.

That seems to be the story of mankind. From the beginning, Adam and Eve did everything they could to avoid taking responsibility for their sin. Adam blamed God and Eve, saying it was “the woman YOU gave me!” (Genesis 3:12). Eve, in turn, blamed the snake saying, “the serpent tricked me!” (Genesis 3:13). But God would have none of it and pronounced their judgment—consequences for their disobedience.

—click on cartoon to enlarge it—

Copyright: 2013, Rob-ART Morgan (used with permission)

See RobART's cartoons at: barefootontherock.com

Adam and Eve aren’t the only ones who passed the buck. Hardly a person alive takes responsibility for their actions: My parents didn’t raise me right; my best friend let me down; my pastor was a hypocrite; my boss isn’t sensitive enough; my husband/wife isn’t understanding; there’s not enough time in the day—on and on it goes. Excuses abound!

Perhaps one reason we don’t sense forgiveness and restoration from God is that we don’t accept full responsibility for our sins, repent of them, and forsake them. God doesn’t take kindly to sin no matter whom we blame for them. The reason for this is that we are accountable—not our parents, friends, enemies—no, you and I are responsible.

Here’s how Paul described it, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2nd Corinthians 5:10).

If you acknowledge and take full responsibility for your own sins, it will free you to receive God’s forgiveness and to go on to spiritual maturity.

Then the man said, The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate. (Genesis 3:12)