Passing the Blame

"The man said, 'The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.'" -Genesis 3.12

Adam messed up. He failed to act, and failed to play the man. And now it's time to face the consequences. First he hides from God, and then when God asks him a direct question he throws his wife under the bus. "Did you eat?" "She made me do it!" Since the beginning men have found themselves in the position of inaction. And shortly there after, we find ourselves in the situation of not owning up to our mistakes.

Why? Is it an attempt to try and preserve some sort of tainted sense of our own innocence? Is it out of embarrassment because we know we messed up? Are we trying to have ourselves overlooked in the judgment? Yes. A man who has failed doesn't want everyone else to find out about it. That's actually one of the biggest fears of all men, to be found out as a fraud. And so they do whatever they can to avoid that, and protect a false image.

Guys, part of being a man is owning up to our mistakes and failures. A man doesn't let his wife take the blame for his failures. Remember, Adam was right there watching everything unfold, and he did nothing. And now to make it worse, he blames the woman. When we fail at protecting and leading, we can't blame others for not following. You can't follow where no one will lead you.

And we also have to make sure that we don't blame God. Look at that verse again. "The woman whom You gave to be with me," so now this is partly God's fault. How often do we do this? I know I have blamed God for how things have turned out. The past year has involved a lot of that. But really, who am I to blame God? What right do I have to point the finger at Him and say "This is Your fault!" No matter how slight or indirect the jab might be, it's still there, and it does nothing for our growth or honor.

Men, let's own up. We're not perfect, and we're not going to be. And trying to make it seem like we are only makes things worse. Owning a mistake does more for our integrity than lying and covering one up ever will.

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

To God alone be the Glory!

Strength and Honor