Blame game as old as Adam and Eve

I am a perpetual people watcher. I like to observe what others are doing and wonder why they are doing it. This trait bothers my youngest daughter to no end, but it hasn’t stopped me.

Lately I have been noticing that blaming other people for things is an ongoing practice for many people.

For example, I witnessed a young man being pulled over for speeding and he said to the policeman that it wasn’t his fault because he had to keep up with the flow of traffic.

The officer pointed out that the speed limit sign said 25 mph not “you must go as fast as the other cars.” The kid was issued a ticket.

This blame game has been going on for a long time now. In Genesis 3:12-13, God asked Adam why he ate the apple after he had been told not to.

Adam said: “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”

Then the Lord said to the woman: “What is this that you have done?” The woman said: “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Wow, Adam blamed Eve and implied that it was all her fault. He should have admitted that he had the choice not to eat the apple but gave in to the juicy and sweet flavor.

In life we always have a choice and we need to make choices that we can stand by.

In all fairness, Eve didn’t do much better. Her excuse was that the serpent (devil) deceived her. She forgot to mention that the serpent just told her a really nice story about how she could eat the fruit and be like God. She made the choice to believe him.

Blame is also known as passing the buck. We don’t want to be responsible for the things we do so we hand off the responsibility to another person.

I have had parents blame me for their student’s bad grade when, in fact, the student didn’t do the assignments.

Somehow, blaming someone else makes these people feel better, but it doesn’t change the truth. They are still the ones who are responsible.

The Bible agrees with this. Proverbs 21:2 says: “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart.”

We all know in our hearts when we are not completely in the right. We also know that this isn’t what God wants us to do.

God wants us to take responsibility for our actions and do what is right for ourselves and others. Blame is a form of dishonesty that isn’t healthy.

When God told us not to lie, he also meant for us to be honest with ourselves. If you do something wrong, say so. Think about your choices and stand behind the ones you choose to make.

That way you can make things right and be the person that God meant for you to be.