Personal Accountability

 “So then, each of us will give an account of
himself to God.” (Romans 14:12)

One of the
biggest problems that we have in our society today is a lack of personal
accountability.  No one is ever wrong,
and when they do make mistakes, there is always an excuse.  The danger that I see in this mindset is that
if the Bible teaches us anything, it is that God will demand of each one of us personal
accountability!

In our
criminal justice system, those charged with crimes hire gifted criminal lawyers
to promote every excuse known to man in order to “explain away” the criminal
behavior of their client.  There are “experts”
now that can give you an excuse for anything that you want to do.

Some great
examples of people refusing to be personally accountable are the lawsuits in past
years against the tobacco industry, and now the fast food industry.  While there is little doubt that the tobacco
industry lied about the addictive quality of cigarettes, the fact is, smoking
is a personal choice.  Not being the
brightest light bulb in the box, even I finally realized that putting something
in my mouth that was on fire, and sucking the smoke into my body, was not good for
me.

People who
are obese are suing the fast food chains for making them fat!  I have been to many fast food restaurants in
my life, and have yet to see someone strapped into a chair and being forced to
eat a double bacon cheeseburger, along with a bag of greasy, super-size fries,
and washing it all down with a quart of Coke! It is a personal choice!

My friend,
my point today is to drive home the fact that we can’t blame anyone but
ourselves for our actions.  Blaming
others is not new to the human experience.  In the Garden of Eden, after sinning, the
woman blamed her sin on the serpent, and Adam blamed his sin on “the woman.”  But the reality is, God is not interested in
your excuses.  Trying to blame Eve did
not get Adam off the hook for his actions, and making excuses won’t get you off
the hook for your actions!

Men and
women in prison will never be able to overcome that experience until they
humble themselves before God, and accept personal responsibility for what they
did.  In our life, we can never get
beyond our sins until we are ready to admit them to God, who by the way, according
to 1 John 1:9 is ready to, “…forgive us our sins and purify us from all
unrighteousness.”

But YOU must
take the first step, and take responsibility for your actions!

It breaks my
heart knowing how many people are looking for God in the middle of their
challenges, but are having a hard time finding Him because they refuse to
accept the fact that they made poor choices, and which many times resulted in painful
consequences.

This is a
special word for YOU today.  Please know
that there is forgiveness and healing available to you when you accept
responsibility for your sins, and when you repent.  We all sin, and accepting responsibility for
our sin is how we move on to victory in our lives.

Please know
I am praying for you today.  I pray that
you will open your heart, be honest with yourself and with God, and quit
blaming anyone or anything other than the choices you make.

We all make
bad decisions in our life.  The key for
you today is to not to blame others, but simply take responsibility for what
you have done.  It is impossible to move
past your problems until you do this.  This
is so important because to accept Christ by faith, we must take personal
responsibility for our sins and ask Him to forgive us.  We must be personally accountable to HIM for
our sins.

When this
brief life is over, and we stand before God, He is not going to be interested
in any excuses.  On that day, God will
hold each of us personally responsible for our life.  I pray today that you stop looking for ways to
excuse your choices, but accept responsibility for what YOU have done.

“But I tell
you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every
empty word they have spoken.” (Matthew 12:36)

And God will honor
you for taking personal responsibility for your words and deeds.

 Can God change
your life?

God has made it
possible for you to know Him, and experience an amazing 
change in your own life.

Discover how you
can find peace with God.