We live in a day and time when no one seems to want to take responsibility for their own actions and very few want to hold individuals accountable for what they have done. If a person commits a crime, it is society’s fault. If a person engages in behavior that is detrimental to their health such as drinking, smoking, overeating, or taking illicit drugs — it is not because they are doing something wrong. It is because they are sick, suffering from a disease of some sort. No one wants to take responsibility. The rallying cry of the day seems to be: “Don’t blame me!”<\/p>\n
This isn’t a new phenomenon. It has been occurring since man first appeared on the earth. When God confronted Adam for eating the forbidden fruit, his response was, “The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave of the tree to me and I did eat it.” So Adam blamed Eve, and even God Himself. When Eve was questioned about the matter, she responded with, “The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.” It wasn’t her fault; it was the serpent’s fault.<\/p>\n
God told the people of Judah that they could blame no one else for their defeat and captivity at the hands of the Babylonians. In Jeremiah 31:29,30 we find, “In those days they shall say no more, ‘The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children’s teeth shall be set on edge.’ But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.<\/em>” Later, while actually in the Babylonian Captivity, God told His people through the prophet Ezekiel, “What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge? As I live, saith the Lord God, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb<\/em>” (Ezekiel 18:2-3).<\/p>\n I suppose that there is some comfort to be found in not accepting responsibility for our own actions, particularly if there will be negative consequences for doing so. It is understandable when a small child is caught in the midst of some transgression and responds by saying, “I didn’t do it, ” or perhaps, “It is not my fault.” After all, a small child is in the process of learning to accept responsibility. It is a sad thing indeed when an adult seeks to shift the blame.<\/p>\n There is a basic and consistent principle taught throughout God’s Word. It is clearly stated in Galatians 6:7-8. Paul wrote, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap live everlasting.<\/em>” We are personally responsible for the things we do or don’t do.<\/p>\n Ultimately, it will not matter if we have convinced others and ourselves that the sinful things we have done are just not our fault. Paul wrote in II Corinthians 5:10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ: that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.<\/em>” It is so much better, as well as being pleasing to God, to simply accept responsibility for our actions. Repent when repentance is called for; make the necessary corrections. In God’s sight, we are responsible for what we do.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Greg Litmer via That Ye May Grow Thereby. We live in a day and time when no one seems to want to take responsibility for their own actions and very few want to hold individuals accountable for what they have done. If a person commits a crime, it is society’s fault. If a person engages…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[354],"class_list":["post-59310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-responsibility"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":38250,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-a-child-leave-his-parents-authority-gradually-or-all-at-once\/","url_meta":{"origin":59310,"position":0},"title":"Does a child leave his parent’s authority gradually or all at once?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 3, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I guess my question is Genesis 2:24, \"Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.\" This seems to suggest this idea of leaving the household and the authority of your parents and establishing a new household.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24997,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-i-come-across-as-sincere-in-my-apologies\/","url_meta":{"origin":59310,"position":1},"title":"How can I come across as sincere in my apologies?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 19, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: It seems that when I apologize to\u00a0people, they refuse to accept.\u00a0I understand that the majority of apologies come across as insincere. If this is the case, how can I be sincere in my apologies to people? Answer: An apology is an expression of regret for having done something that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38908,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-i-take-responsibility-for-another-mans-child\/","url_meta":{"origin":59310,"position":2},"title":"Should I take responsibility for another man’s child?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 11, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have been going out with this girl for about five years now. Just recently she got pregnant with another guy. She confessed to me that she doesn't love that guy and does not believe she can be happy with him. I later told her if the other guy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3716,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-my-responsibility-when-i-know-that-a-person-is-sinning-within-the-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":59310,"position":3},"title":"What is my responsibility when I know that a person is sinning within the church?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 17, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What is my responsibility when I know that a person is sinning within the church? The church that I attend has been hit with past and present members being charged by the law for pedophilia: one member has received a seven-year jail sentence; there is a woman who once\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":88026,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-your-part\/","url_meta":{"origin":59310,"position":4},"title":"Do Your Part","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 22, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Zeke Flores Every person in Christ's kingdom has a responsibility to the Lord, His people, and himself.\u00a0 God is building a temple, His own dwelling, so it's vitally important that each individual block - you and I - stay true to the purpose. We contribute individually when we each\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60576,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/unwanted-children\/","url_meta":{"origin":59310,"position":5},"title":"Unwanted Children","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 29, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton It seems strange, but I've started writing this article numerous times. Each time I've tossed it because I found myself unable to express exactly what was going through my mind. Many years ago I realized that our country contains a lot of unwanted children. The circumstances\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59310\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}