" SHIFTING THE BLAME "

How often have you blamed another for a situation in your life? Try this, just for the day really try to pay very close attention to what you say. What I'm getting at is for you to make it your business to count the times that you blame another person or thing in your everyday speech. Excusing sin by blaming others for it never works out for us in the long run. In my past I have done that, and it started when I was under the age of seven. Even now I have to fight the urge to make an excuse or think of Shifting Blame. Now I can think of how a cascade of events can happen when I / we don't own our bad behavior, or when we don't trust God. Now in the Word Of God we are told of the accounting of Sarai and Hagar. Sarai gave Hagar to Abram as a substitute wife, a common practice of that time. A married woman who could not have children was shamed by her peers and was often required to give a female servant to her husband in order to produce heirs. The children born to the servant woman were considered the children of the wife. Abram was acting in line with the custom of the day, but his action showed a Lack of Faith that God would Fulfill His Promise. Now regarding Shifting The Blame. Sarai took matters into her own hands by giving Hagar to Abram. Like Abram she had trouble believing God's promise that was apparently directed specifically toward Abram and Sarai. Out of his lack of faith came a series of problems. This invariably happens when we take over for God, trying to make his promise come true through efforts that are not in line with his specific directions. In this case, time was the greatest test of Abram and Sarai's willingness to let God work in their lives. Sometimes we too must simply wait. When we ask God for something and have to wait, it is a temptation to take matters into our own hands and interfere with God's plans. Lastly, why is it that we seem to always want to shift blame elsewhere. We complain about our adverse circumstances when we have only ourselves to blame. Why is it that we often try to avoid guilt feelings by once again shifting the blame. This in reality will not solve the problem. We looked at problems last week, when you face problems, look first at yourself. If you changed your attitude or behavior would the problem be solved? It's time for us to to be accountable for our own actions, have a great day in the Lord.