The Blame Game
Why do you look at
the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in
your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of
your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite,
first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to
remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” - Matthew 7:3-5
There was once a
manager of a minor league baseball team who was so disgusted with his centre
fielder’s performance that he ordered him to the dugout and assumed the
position himself. The first ball that came into centre field took a bad hop and
hit the manager in the mouth. The next one was a high fly ball, which he lost
in the glare of the sun—until it bounced off his forehead.
The third was a hard
line drive that he charged with outstretched arms; unfortunately, it flew
between his hands and smacked his eye. Furious, he ran back to the dugout,
grabbed the centre fielder by the uniform, and shouted, “You’ve got centre
field so messed up that even I can’t do a thing with it!”
It’s easy for some
people to blame others when things aren’t going their way, isn’t it? They try
and try to figure out just what someone else did wrong to put them in their
predicament, all the while the real blame should be put on themselves.
In the Christian
life, God wants you to take responsibility for your own actions. It’s easy to
look at others and find faults with them. But remember that every time you
point a finger, you have three more pointing right back at you. So examine
yourself before you blame others. Be quick to confess when you might be in the
wrong. A humble heart is the key to maintaining good, godly relationships with
others.
Prayer Challenge:
Ask God to show you
areas where you’ve been too judgmental toward others. If you need to, confess
how you’ve unfairly blamed them, and accept responsibility when it’s yours.