Starting Anew with Humility: Why are We Afraid?

Scenario 1. Defendant: "I didn't do it! It was the guy next door-he made me do it!" (The "guy" next door happens to be a woman, and she is 110 years old!)

Scenario 2. Mother: "Jimmy, why didn't you clean your room?" Jimmy: "I did, but my little sister came in and messed it all up again!" (Jimmy never cleaned his room!)

Silly, to be sure, yet not totally unheard of. We all do it all the time. Why did you not do better on your last test? (Not enough time, right?) What stopped you from working out your last problem with Mom and Dad? (I know: they were wrong.) For one reason or another, it just was not your fault.

Ever since Adam and Eve, we have habitually blamed others. I am not saying everything bad that happens to us is our fault; it is not. I also am not denying that on occasion we receive unjust blame for things we did not do. All too often, however, we just do not take responsibility for our own actions. When we make a mistake, we try to ignore it, deny it, or most infamous of all, cover it up - whether that means hiding from it, or blaming someone else, or both. However, we absolutely do not want to face up to it and admit our wrong. Why have we so rigidly followed this pattern since the dawn of time?

Of course, the simple answer is that we are afraid of the consequences (I always hated that word). Nobody wants to get into trouble. The hard truth is that he is mature who owns up to his mistakes and takes whatever he deserves for them. (See 1 Peter 2.) So who is mature? Eighteen-year-olds? I doubt that is a fitting standard. I know mature children and immature parents. Then it is the 4.0 student. Perhaps that is intelligence, but is it necessarily maturity? Maturity is a life issue, not an academic one. To be mature, one must have courage, wisdom, thoughtfulness, and compassion. From where do we get these qualities? They are divine gifts.