Forty Days Full - An Invitation To Real Life

Day Sixteen: The Blame Game

“And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (Genesis 3:11-13 NIV) T he blame game is an unwillingness to take responsibility for your actions. Adam and Eve tried to sidestep God's penetrating gaze, but they were both guilty. Nobody had taken their choice away. They were free to make good choices and they made a bad choice. People who are caught in the self-protective habit of blaming, get there in many ways. Sometimes it's trying to avoid the responsibility of bad choices. Other times it's the result of bad choices made against you. Either way, we must break off our connection to the bad choices of the past. Then we are free to make new choices today. A victim is one who denies they have a choice. It often stems from one particular event where something very bad was done to them. In that moment they truly were a victim of someone else's bad decision. The feelings of helplessness and loss of power are intense for anyone who has faced such a crisis. The stories of abuse and trauma that I've listened to over the years are extremely heart breaking. My sense of justice usually rises up with a desire to throttle someone if I could get my hands on them.