Choosing Personal Responsibility rather than Blame

I never saw this in the Word before. Did you know that Moses blamed the people for his anger? Deuteronomy 1:37 As Mark and I were pondering it this morning I began to see that not taking responsibility for your behavior can keep you from going into the Promise Land. We know that Moses struck the rock twice in his anger. He was tired of the people complaining after many years, and God tells him to strike it once for water to come out (a typology of Christ being sacrificed once only). But he strikes it twice and as a result, messes up God’s visual of His plan to only sacrifice Jesus once. I have always been taught that is why God would not let him go into the Promise Land. But I see something much deeper here. Moses was not truly repentant. You can not be truly repentant if you are blaming someone else for your anger or sin. Could this be the real reason Moses did not go in? Did his lack of personal responsibility keep him out of God’s best?  In comparison, King David, the only man in the bible called a man after God’s own heart, did repent when he was confronted. The kingdom was not ripped from him because of that. Yes, he suffered some consequences but he was still King and did much more for God. In comparison, Adam and Eve. They also blamed each other or the serpent. Rather than taking responsibility for their sin. As a result, they were not only put out the garden because of the original sin but so many more curses upon them and one of their kids later killed the other. Could this also be because they never took responsibility for their sin? I do believe that blaming others for our sin will keep us out of the promised land!!

By Dr. Lisa Winchell