to thine own self be true

Genesis 3:12-13

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."

Adam blames Eve, and Eve blames the serpent. Some things never seem to change. Today is no different. The rule of the day is not just to cover your backside, but pass the buck. Never admit to anything, but take credit weather it’s your to take or not.

It is far easier to place blame on anyone other than us. It seems that when it comes to self-examination, most people are more than ready to write themselves a pass. They will rationalize almost any circumstance in an effort to clear their conscience. That is where a true Christian must step up to the plate and shoulder the responsibility. AS Proverbs 19:3 reads: A man's own folly ruins his life, yet his heart rages against the LORD. Where we are, and what we achieve in life is largely due to how we hold ourselves accountable. So often people will run their lives in to the ground, destroy relationships, and alienate themselves from others, then look to the heavens and ask God why he has let this happen.

Free will is a funny thing; it will set us free or enslave us for eternity. The only person that makes that choice is you. There is no doubt that the Lord as a plan for each of us; it is up to each of us to choose to follow that path. Along the way there will be opportunities that will arise. There will be times that we can pass the buck. It is those defining moments that decide which path we will go down.

Is it hard to step up and admit your mistakes? I will tell you from personal experience it is, especially when the person you have let down, or hurt is someone that is close to you. What we all must realize is that for us to call our selves Christians yet refuse to accept our own mistakes and shortcomings, we become the same hypocrite that we despise. When Christ was talking about judging others in Matthew 7, the point that he is driving home is not just one of judging others, but the point of personal responsibility. I say it often, but we must fix ourselves before we start trying to fix everyone else.

Sure it is a work in progress, and we will never reach perfection, however the first step on that journey is to acknowledge that even though we hate to admit it, we also stumble, we also make mistakes, and have bad judgment. We should recognize that and try to make amends as we go along; but most importantly we should remember that when we stop and take the time to try and help someone else.

Peace,
Rev. T