Have you heard that kind of illogical thinking before? It's not really anything new. It started back in the Garden of Eden where Adam blamed Eve, then Eve blamed the serpent for their own actions. Unfortunately, it seems like many people today are not that much different. I've heard adults blaming the government, the boss, the minister, the economy, their spouse, children, and even the devil or Almighty God for their situations or problems. And many of our children are just as bad—blaming school teachers, siblings or the dog. (Unfortunately, I've been guilty of poor responses and excuses too.) The flesh hates to own-up or admit, "It's my fault, I was wrong."
The police and the court systems have heard thousands of unbelievable excuses that people and criminals give for their wrong actions and bad behavior. You probably know or have seen many examples yourself, especially if you have children. We've all been guilty of making excuses for our actions or our lack of them. And yet we really have no one to blame but ourselves.
For example, I have heard parents saying, "I hate it when my kids get sick." Yet, many do little to change what they or their children are eating. They continue to buy and eat prepared foods, junk foods and sugar-laced products for their families. (Chemicals, white sugar and other additives are poisons to the human body and a major reason for sickness; spiritual problems are usually the other reasons.) As a result there is an escalating weight and health problem in the world today. And just because you and your children may eat a little better than others doesn't make it OK or a good standard. When you have to bribe your children with dessert in order to get them to eat their meals, something's wrong. But, then the parents try to blame the food industry. However, no one makes anyone buy those products, they just allowed themselves to be seduced and deceived by the advertising and food preparation industry whose primary interest is making money, and not your health. They know you and your kids' weaknesses, and they seek to take advantage of them.
Over the years adults, young people and children have not only had their taste buds perverted, but other areas as well. These perversions not only harm the body, but the mind and spirit as well. Yet nobody (usually) forces people to eat or to do certain things that are harmful; they are choices we ourselves make, even if out of ignorance (even spiritual ignorance).
Over the years adults, young people and children have not only had their taste buds perverted, but other areas as well. These perversions not only harm the body, but the mind and spirit as well. Yet nobody (usually) forces people to eat or to do certain things that are harmful; they are choices we ourselves make, even if out of ignorance (even spiritual ignorance).
The Bible gives us all the information we need to know—the life God intended for us—yet the majority of people choose to ignore its truths. God established everything and said, It was good. Man came along and said, I can make it better. And the majority of people chose to believe man rather than God. These false concepts have infiltrated into so many areas of our lives, yet we don't even realize it. In fact, the whole world-system is a perversion from God's original design—including government, military, monetary system, education, medical system, food and religion. All these systems affect the way most people think and act. God's ways are different from man's.
But the issue I'm dealing with today is our responsibility. I've just showed an example to help you get the picture, whether you agree with me or not. You may be open to the idea that something is definitely wrong with this world and that there's a need for change. We could start with a change in our responsibilities, in what we say and do. One area in particular would be in the relationships we have with others, mainly with our parents and God.
Often young people have a way of blaming their parents for their own mistakes, not realizing the love or the sacrifice that many parents make for them. They somehow feel their parents still owe them for past mistakes. Yes, parents do make mistakes. Sometimes the mistakes can be very painful and result in dysfunctional or broken homes. But, there still needs to be true forgiveness from the HEART if we are going to be able to move on in life or with God. How will we be able to deal with our own mistakes if we can't forgive others of theirs? Or maybe we just don't see them because of our pride and self-righteousness? No person or parent is perfect. We need to accept the responsibilities for our thoughts, actions and mistakes, and stop blaming others.
Yes, those experiences are painful to us. The suffering may be a cross God asks us to bear, whether it's for our children, our parents, for others or for the Gospel. Ultimately we bear the cross for Him. We have a choice to love people and forgive them or we can become angry, bitter and miserable for the rest of our lives. The choice is ours. As Christians we should continue to pray, bless people and follow the example of Jesus from his most painful experience, the Cross of Crucifixion, when he said, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." As Christians, the only debt we are to have is the debt of LOVE.
Each of us has dishonored the Heavenly Father more than we can realize. Yet, He has forgiven us all. And He has never made any mistakes other than maybe loving us too much. And He always will! As his children we have failed to love and obey so many times; yet he never holds those mistakes against us. It's time we realize our errors and ask Him to forgive us for our selfish behavior. We then let God nail that junk to the Cross, along with the guilt and shame, to be cast into the Sea of Forgetfulness, never to be remembered. (This is the same way we should forgive others who have hurt and offended us.)
Our Heavenly Father wants to hug and love all his children (both big children and little children). By loving and obeying Jesus Christ, we show honor and respect. He is the best Parent and Friend anyone could ever desire or ask for. We need to tell God how much we love Him and how sorry we are for blaming others; we should also be more responsible for our actions. Then we should thank God every day for his incredible love.
