“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
Posted on: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 18:01:18 +0000