Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Personal Accountability



 “So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.” (Romans 14:12)

One of the biggest problems that we have in our society today is a lack of personal accountability.  No one is ever wrong, and when they do make mistakes, there is always an excuse.  The danger that I see in this mindset is that if the Bible teaches us anything, it is that God will demand of each one of us personal accountability!

In our criminal justice system, those charged with crimes hire gifted criminal lawyers to promote every excuse known to man in order to “explain away” the criminal behavior of their client.  There are “experts” now that can give you an excuse for anything that you want to do.

Some great examples of people refusing to be personally accountable are the lawsuits in past years against the tobacco industry, and now the fast food industry.  While there is little doubt that the tobacco industry lied about the addictive quality of cigarettes, the fact is, smoking is a personal choice.  Not being the brightest light bulb in the box, even I finally realized that putting something in my mouth that was on fire, and sucking the smoke into my body, was not good for me.

People who are obese are suing the fast food chains for making them fat!  I have been to many fast food restaurants in my life, and have yet to see someone strapped into a chair and being forced to eat a double bacon cheeseburger, along with a bag of greasy, super-size fries, and washing it all down with a quart of Coke! It is a personal choice!

My friend, my point today is to drive home the fact that we can’t blame anyone but ourselves for our actions.  Blaming others is not new to the human experience.  In the Garden of Eden, after sinning, the woman blamed her sin on the serpent, and Adam blamed his sin on “the woman.”  But the reality is, God is not interested in your excuses.  Trying to blame Eve did not get Adam off the hook for his actions, and making excuses won’t get you off the hook for your actions!
Men and women in prison will never be able to overcome that experience until they humble themselves before God, and accept personal responsibility for what they did.  In our life, we can never get beyond our sins until we are ready to admit them to God, who by the way, according to 1 John 1:9 is ready to, “...forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

But YOU must take the first step, and take responsibility for your actions!

It breaks my heart knowing how many people are looking for God in the middle of their challenges, but are having a hard time finding Him because they refuse to accept the fact that they made poor choices, and which many times resulted in painful consequences.

This is a special word for YOU today.  Please know that there is forgiveness and healing available to you when you accept responsibility for your sins, and when you repent.  We all sin, and accepting responsibility for our sin is how we move on to victory in our lives.

Please know I am praying for you today.  I pray that you will open your heart, be honest with yourself and with God, and quit blaming anyone or anything other than the choices you make.

We all make bad decisions in our life.  The key for you today is to not to blame others, but simply take responsibility for what you have done.  It is impossible to move past your problems until you do this.  This is so important because to accept Christ by faith, we must take personal responsibility for our sins and ask Him to forgive us.  We must be personally accountable to HIM for our sins.

When this brief life is over, and we stand before God, He is not going to be interested in any excuses.  On that day, God will hold each of us personally responsible for our life.  I pray today that you stop looking for ways to excuse your choices, but accept responsibility for what YOU have done.

“But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken.” (Matthew 12:36)

And God will honor you for taking personal responsibility for your words and deeds.






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