It’s all about the blame game: The devil made me do it. It’s my spouse’s fault. If I hadn’t been late for work… The bank didn’t get my deposit in time… So on and so on.
Steve Wyatt in his book Trading Places talks about the forty years Moses spent between fleeing from Pharaoh’s palace, where he was a prince among men, to accepting God’s call to redeem the Israelites from Egyptian bondage. It wasn’t God’s inability to forgive Moses for killing an Egyptian that kept him trapped in isolation for four decades. It took Moses forty years to quit playing the blame game and to accept responsibility for his actions.
If we want to “move on,” God gives us three commandments that will enable us to continue forward into a better life with him.
Better Life Commandment #1:
Exodus 20:12 establishes our core principle for everyday living:
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.”
Giving honor unto others starts with our parents, but it doesn’t end there. This is a life principle. As this new attitude begins to permeate how we interact with others, it will change everything in our lives.
Joel 2:28 is the blessing God will shower upon us:
“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.
We will leap forward spiritually, and when we grow in our relationship to God, growth in our relationships toward men will fall into place as a matter of course.
Better Life Commandment #2:
Matthew 6:16-18 prioritizes our relationships with God and man:
“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
God has to be our focus. If we walk a holy life so that others can see us walk a holy life, then we haven’t done it as unto the Father. It’s God’s opinion that counts, not the preacher’s, the choir leader’s, or the deacon’s.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 assures us he will enable us when we remain focused on him:
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”
Better Life Commandment #3:
1 Corinthians 7:15 says everything is not under our control:
“But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you to peace.”
There are times we have to accept the blame for what happens around us, and other times, we must release the responsibility and move on. We aren’t the god-character in this drama we call life. Sometimes there’s nothing we can do except let God have it.
John 14:26 tells us a helper will step in when we feel the ground under our feet falling away:
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”
When we release our problems to God, the space we create in our lives is filled with the Spirit. In him, we are enabled to move ahead to accomplish all that God has planned for us to do.
Steve Wyatt hit the nail on the head. Forgiveness is already ours. Repentance is about admitting we are transgressors, then moving into God’s fulfilling grace. We must leave the past behind, so that our future can be bright and glorious in him. Blame does no one any good. Leaving the blame behind and taking the Father’s hand does everyone good.
When we accept Christ in our heart, he casts the shame of our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. It’s our responsibility not to search it out once again.
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