The Blame Game

Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” And the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (Genesis 3:12-13, NKJV)

I am always amazed at the number of special days that are commemorated in any given month. This month we can celebrate World Teachers Day, National Mule Day, and Treat Yo’ Self Day—just to name a few of the multitude of special days. If you aren’t all celebrated out by the end of the month, in November you can observe National Deep Fried Clams Day, World Jellyfish Day, and Use Your Common Sense Day. (I like that last one!)

However, the one thing we probably all observe, even without realizing it, comes on June 13. It is called Blame Someone Else Day.

Human nature being what it is, we learn at a very early age to declare, “Not me. I didn’t do it.” We inherited this trait from many generations back. In the Garden of Eden Adam excused himself to God by saying, “Not me! It’s this woman you gave me. She gave me the fruit and I ate it.” Eve wasn’t about to accept the blame, so she turned the finger-pointing in another direction. “The serpent tricked me! That’s why I ate the fruit.” And so it has gone ever since.

Someone humorously said, “To err is human, to blame the next guy even more so.” Why is it so difficult to confess when we make a mistake? We have all probably dealt with someone who tries to pass the blame for their own shortcomings onto another.

Many years ago, I worked with a man who thought he had mastered the blame game in convincing the boss that whatever the problem, someone else on the staff caused it. He only fooled himself. Yes, he succeeded for a short time, but the manager soon realized the truth. The last time I saw this man, he was polishing his resume to looked for a new job.

Who among us hasn’t made a bad decision, caused hurt to another, or turned out less than perfect work? However, to accept responsibility for our actions is a sign of integrity and maturity. It is much easier to forgive someone who is willing to admit his wrong than the one who goes to great lengths to cover it up or blame someone else. Dr. Robert Anthony stated, “When you blame others, you give up your power to change.” That person is the true failure, not the one who confesses to his mistakes.

A statement attributed to Abraham Lincoln says, “You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.” We should add, “You can fool God none of the time.” He sees us exactly as we are. Yet the wonderful thing about God is that He does not reject us because of our failings. His love is unconditional. If it were based on our perfection, who could ever earn it?

Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” We can confess our shortcomings to Him without fear. The Blameless One willingly took our blame that we might be saved.