Daily Devotion

May 9, 2013

The Blame Game (3)


“You can’t get forgiveness…without…forgiving others.” Mt 6:15 TM

Blaming creates enemies. The person you are blaming will ignore you, compile numerous proofs of their innocence, and resent you. And their friends will defend them and become your enemies. Even your own friends will get fed up with your complaining and distance you. Your “root of bitterness” will spread, causing “many [to be] defiled,” and making things worse (Heb 12:15 NKJV). Blaming rubs off. Blamers beget blamers. Your family gets pulled in, so they suffer too. “Don’t hang out with angry people; don’t keep company with hotheads. Bad temper is contagious—don’t get infected” (Pr 22:24-25 TM). Stop it, you’re passing on your misery and dysfunction to those who love you! Blaming is addictive. The justification we feel in blaming hooks us for the long run. It manipulates our anger, making us feel okay about shifting responsibility. It gets progressively easier to complain rather than to resolve the problem. Like any addiction, it has to be fed more and more to achieve its reward. Sooner than you think, you’ll become a skilled, confirmed “blame-aholic.” Blaming sabotages forgiveness. You can’t forgive someone while you’re judging and resenting them. And while you’re squandering your time and energy blaming them, you forfeit your right to receive God’s forgiveness. “But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins” (Mt 6:15 NIV). It’s time to give up the blame game, own responsibility for your life, and take back your God-given power to respond to things according to His Word!

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