The Devil Made Me Do It

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. (Psalm 32:1-5 ESV). Many years ago, Flip Wilson developed a comedy routine as the character “Geraldine” whose favorite excuse was “the devil made me do it.” In general this was her excuse for every bad thing she ever did either intentionally or otherwise. That excuse is not original with him, nor to that time period in our history. We see that from the beginning of time. After God confronts Adam about his personal failure, he simply responds by blaming God for giving him the woman who enticed him to eat of the forbidden fruit. It is the first recorded example of this excuse in blaming someone else for our choices.

That excuse is just as rampant in today’s culture as it has ever been. We see feminists who blame men for trouble and men who blame all their problems on women. We see blacks who blame whites for the trouble in their life, and whites who blame blacks for trouble they’re dealing with. Republicans blame Democrats, and Democrats blame Republicans. We have an entire industry, the media, where success seems to be measured by how many people they have adequately blamed. And so many criminals actually defend their actions by blaming the victim for the crime: “She wouldn’t give up her purse, so I had to stab her.” Or “She was asking for it by the way she was dressed.” Our culture features this out-of-control blame game mindset. “It’s not my fault! It’s her fault! It’s his fault! It wouldn’t have happened without her; without him; without the snake!” Since the dawn of mankind, that is a classic unrepentant mindset of man when it comes to our sin. The Scripture is clear. We are merely to acknowledge our sin before God and we will be forgiven completely and forever. Do you blame others for your mistakes and sins or do you confess your actions? The first step to forgiveness from God is acknowledgement of responsibility. Can you take that first step in acknowledging your own sinful deeds to the One who offers unlimited forgiveness? It will help you move away from the blame game to a life of freedom and growth. Come to Jesus today with all of your sin; he will forgive them all and “cleanse you from every unrighteousness” (cf. 1 John 1:9).