It Really Is My Fault

~Tracy Frederick

They’re upon us again! Those annoying weight loss commercials, or the workout equipment that guarantees we will lose those unwanted pounds in only a few minutes a day while eating all of our favorite foods. My favorite ad is for a weight loss pill that says: “It’s not your fault!” It isn’t the cakes, the cookies, and ice cream and such that has caused my “unsightly belly fat.” It isn’t MY fault.  We’ve heard the same excuse from our children: It wasn’t my fault, mom! or “I couldn’t help it!” or blaming their brother or sister. Not taking responsibility for our wrongs goes way back. Remember when Adam and  Eve ate of the forbidden tree? When confronted by God Adam blamed his wife, and then Eve blamed the serpent. We’ve been pushing the responsibility for our sins off for far too long. Our Lord knows we sin, He offered His son at the very moment of the first sin because He saw our imperfections before we did and sadly, saw our selfishness before we could offer an excuse. He knows. Perhaps it is time for us to face ourselves. We are all familiar with I John chapters 1 and 2; it is the no-excuses chapters: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” 1:8. “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us” 1:10.  Yeah, God knows our sin, but perhaps we think we can hide it, kind of like the layers we use to hide those few extra pounds, thinking that no one can tell we’ve packed on a few, or at the very least telling ourselves it isn’t our fault when we have to buy the larger size, it is the fabric and not the chocolate shakes. Yeah, God knows. He’s always known. Do you recall what happened in the garden when God confronted Adam?  God asked Adam a question (Gen 3:11) that offered Adam a chance to confess his wrong to his Father, to see his sin and to repent.  “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” I John 1:9. However, Adam chose not to take responsibility. And thus, God had to offer His son so that “if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world” I John 2:1-2.

 It is usually at this time of the year that people decide to re-evaluate and pledge to make changes. Usually that means dieting-physically. I guess it is easier for us to stare into the bathroom scale than into our souls and take responsibility for the spiritual wrongs and making changes –throwing away the immodest clothing, telling our daughters she can no longer dress immodestly, telling our children they are no longer allowed to participate in immodest/immoral activities at school, taking responsibility for not teaching our children the Bible. Perhaps shedding a few pounds is more attractive than shedding a habitual sin. I have often thought of the merciful nature of our Father and considered what the outcome would have been if Adam had confessed, told the truth and begged for forgiveness. Perhaps the outcome would have been the same, I don’t know, but I do know He sees, He knows, He is merciful to forgive ….. and it really is our fault.