Blame Shift

Blame Shift

In Exodus 32 in the Old Testament of the Bible, while Moses went to talk to God up on the Mountain, we have the story of the Golden Calf. Moses was gone awhile, and the people got restless and came to Aaron and wanted to make them a God. So Aaron told them to bring all their gold to him and He fashioned a Golden Calf out of all the gold they brought.

God knew what was happening so He sent Moses down off the mountain to deal with it. He was furious at what the people were doing, Dancing and partying around this Idol God. The Bible said he burned with Anger and he want to Aaron and this is what Aaron said:

22 “Do not be angry, my lord,” Aaron answered. “You know how prone these people are to evil. 23 They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’ 24 So I told them, ‘Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!” (Ex 32:22-24)

Do you see what Aaron did? He shifted blame on the people and did not accept responsibility for his actions. He could have told the people to wait on the Lord and corrected them, but instead He gave into their wishes and then when confronted blamed them.

Sounds familiar doesn't it. Not many people want to accept responsibility for their actions these days. It's so much easier to blame others for our mistakes, problems, and decisions. We blame our parents, our friends, our children, our spouse. We blame the government, our employer, our school. We blame God.

Truth is truth. When we make mistakes, poor choices, bad decisions, lie, treat people bad, steal, swear, use people, are selfish, and do wrong, it's OUR FAULT. We all have ultimate control over our feelings, choices, decisions, and life.

People may die, we may grow up poor, we might have been abused, we maybe have been wronged, or missed a break or two, but ultimately, our attitude, mindset, feelings, and emotions dicate what we do, how we act, and how we treat others. One WE can be accountable for our own actions, no other person, place, or event.

Bad things happening to us is no excuse to give up, throw in the towel, fall apart, become bitter, resentful, or horrible to be around. If that was the case, we'd all have an excuse to be and do evil.

As long as you constantly blame others for your behavior, faults, problems, and attitude you will never overcome anything. You especially will not allow God to work in your life if you always blame shift and never own up.

None of us is exempt from mistakes, bad choices, or problems, but being human some of those things are our own fault. We screw up, we err, we have a bad day, we sin, we fall short, or we let the situation get the best of us. Best thing to do is own up, accept responsibility, be honest, and learn from it and move on. Most of all allow God to work in your life in whatever situation it might be.

Do not be like Aaron and join in on the wrong and then blame shift.

Proverbs 19:1(NIV)

Better a poor man whose walk is blameless than a fool whose lips are perverse