Articles
Take Responsibility
Taking responsibility for our own actions has been an ongoing problem for mankind from
the very beginning. When Adam and Eve are confronted with their sin by God, they each blame
someone else. “Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man
said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.” Then the
Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent
deceived me, and I ate” (Genesis 3:11-13). Adam blames Eve, Eve blames the Serpent, and
neither was willing to take responsibility for their own actions.
People still make excuses today for the wrong that they do. We have all rationalized our
own actions, doing things we know are wrong, for some very flimsy reasons. Aaron is a good
example. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, he found the Israelites worshiping a
golden calf and confronts Aaron. “Then Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you,
that you have brought such great sin upon them?” Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord
burn; you know the people yourself, that they are prone to evil. For they said to me, ‘Make a god
for us who will go before us; for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt,
we do not know what has become of him.’ I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them tear it
off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf” (Exodus 32:21-
24).
Is it any wonder that we continue to find it difficult to admit our faults. God wants us to
examine ourselves (2 Corinthians 13:5) and to admit our sins (1 John 1:9, James 5:16). He
wants this because it is the beginning place of true change. We must admit our faults and our sins
in order to move on to a better life. Are we willing to take responsibility or are we still blaming
others?
