3 Reasons Why we Shouldn't Blame Others for Our Mistakes
Many people love to avoid taking responsibility for their mistakes. I'm pretty sure that at one time all of us have tried deflecting the blame for our wrongs by pointing it towards an innocent victim. Sadly, what we don't know is that by avoiding much-deserved rebuke we forfeit ourselves some much-needed correction.
Taking responsibility
To help you understand why we shouldn't blame others for our own mistakes, just take a look at the fall of man in Genesis 3. Adam points the blame to his wife Eve (indirectly blaming God, who gave Eve to him), Eve blames the serpent, and the serpent, no one to blame for his part, receives the guilty punishment.
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Of course, the devil played his part in tempting Eve, but it was Eve's and Adam's choice to give in and eat the forbidden fruit. The man and his wife should've repented and asked God's forgiveness, but they did not. This kind of thinking is what many of us have today: "it wasn't my fault! I'm innocent! I don't deserve to be punished!" Well, John tells us,
"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us ... If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us." (1 John 1:8, 10)
Be responsible
Here are some reasons why we should not blame others for our mistakes, sins, and wrongdoings.
1) God will hold us accountable, not them
God knows if we have sinned and will hold us accountable for every little thing we think, say, or do (see Romans 14:12). He's the all-knowing God in whom nothing can be hidden, nothing can be kept from, and from whom nothing can be denied (see Hebrews 4:13; Luke 8:17).
God will hold us to account for everything we do when judgment comes. There's no point in shifting the blame.
2) We won't be forgiven
Next, unless we admit and confess our sins before the Lord we will never be forgiven. Plain and simple.
First John 1:9 tells us that "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins..." The same is true for the opposite: if we don't confess our sins, He is faithful and just to not forgive us of our sins. Why should He forgive a sin we don't even repent of?
3) We won't learn from it
Lastly, we won't receive the healing that God gives to us when we repent of and confess our sins. First John 1:9 continues, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
If we want God to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, we must admit our unrighteousness and confess it before Him. He simply won't cleanse us without us admitting our dirt.
Bonus reasons
Friends, there are many more reasons why we shouldn't put the blame on others. For starters, we sin all the more by slandering the people we point the blame to, by lying about our feigned innocence, and by doing what God dislikes (see Exodus 20:16; Proverbs 6:19).
We also offend the person we blame. If that person is a friend, we might lose that friendship. If that person is an enemy, we disobey Christ's command to love our enemies. There are so many reasons. But the worst of all is that we treat God with contempt when we do that under His plain sight. You really wouldn't want to anger God (see 1 Corinthians 10:22; Hebrews 10:31).
