Excusing sin……….

Excusing sin……….

Excusing sin………. 150 150 cheryl

“The first sin began with doubting God’s Word and desiring created things more than the Creator. Another feature of that first sin is a common characteristic of subsequent sin: blame, excuses. Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the serpent (Genesis 3:11-13). And today we still try to pass the balme for our sin. We refuse to take responsibility for what we’ve done.

We blame other people for what they have done. “They provoked me…..they wound me up…..they started it….I was afraid of what they would say.” And we blame other people for what they haven’t done. ” If you’d helped me more…..if you’d been there for me…..if you’d loved me better.”

Or we blame our circumstances—our context, upbringing, personal history, or biology (our genes, our chemistry). There’s some truth in all of these explanations. External factors can reinforce or trigger sin. They often shape the form it takes. But none of these factors offers a full explanation for our sin. We CHOOSE how we respond to our circumstances, and what determines those choices are the thoughts and desires of our hearts. Our sinful hearts portray our actions as inevitable, unavoidable, or appropriate. If someone lets me down, I assume my anger is inevitable, unavoidable, and appropriate.
But the truth is that my anger reveals my idolatrous desires………..”

Excerpt from: “YOU CAN CHANGE” by Tim Chester

6 Comments
  • Its always a choice. My choices were not good. I bought into all the lies that you mentioned. It was always my husband or kids fault that I felt a certain way. I'm so thankful that Jesus forgave me of all those false beliefs and has turned me towards His way. Still standing for my marriage, knowing that God is going to restore the years the locust ate away!

  • Just bought the book and can't wait to hear what else Tim has to say! It's easy to buy into those lies… take ownership of your own sin, ask forgiveness, accept forgiveness and move on!

  • True Hearts Marriages September 25, 2010 at 12:38 am

    I absolutely love your story. I featured your video on my blog for a mouth…If you go to my blog you will be able to look it up…I will be sure to refeature it because it is a story worth telling over and over again. Just how awesome the power of God is when we decide to move out of the way and decide to be second, Wow!!! I am not finished talking to you about this!!! WoW!!! This is soooooo, BIG!

  • Taking ownership of your sins is hard to do, but I have found that it is also rewarding. You are free, you have peace, and you are less likely to repeat it again.

  • I have no problem taking ownership of my sin, it's just the horrible regret that follows. The people around you that get hurt. The need to try to make things right as the old saying goes, "you can't un-ring a bell.

  • Thanks for all of your comments! Cheryl

Jeff & Cheryl Scruggs