“The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”  Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”  The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (Genesis 3:12-13 NIV)

“The woman gave it to me.” “The serpent deceived me, and I did it.” “The devil made me do it.”  “It is not my fault.”  These are words of blame.  It takes the blame off you and gives it to someone else—one does not have to be accountable for one’s actions.  They are excuses.  While the Bible acknowledges that Satan temps and deceives people, it consistently teaches that we are personally responsible for our actions—our choices. We choose to do something.  

Just because Eve gave Adam the forbidden fruit does not mean he had to eat it.  He could have said “NO” and not eat of it.  Just because Satan tempted Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit, she could have said “NO” God forbids us to eat and not eat of it.  

Why do we choose to do something we know is wrong? We choose to do things we know are wrong because of a conflict between our immediate desires and our long-term values. From both a biblical and psychological perspective, our mind struggles with a division between instant gratification and moral judgement.

Such as: Your friend says, “Let’s go drinking.” You say to yourself, “I will only have one drink,” but you know you will have more. Your husband says, “Let’s do some drugs tonight.” You say, “I will only do drugs this once,” yet you do it again and again.  Your buddy says, “We haven’t gone gambling in awhile, let’s go.”  You say, “I probably shouldn’t,” but you go anyway even though you know you won’t stop once you start.  Your doctor tells you, “You need to go on a diet for health reasons.”  You say, “Sure I will start my diet tomorrow,” yet tomorrow never comes.  Your friend says, “Did you hear about…”  You say, “I am not going to gossip,” but you do it anyway because you have some really good stuff to share.  

These statements have no accountability to them. You know you shouldn’t do something, yet you choose to do it anyway.  Nobody has forced you to do something wrong.  You choose to do it.  The excuse, “The Devil made me do it” is just an excuse.  When you die and face God are you going to say, “The Devil mad me do it!” or will you be accountable for your actions?

An EXCUSE is a reason or explanation given to justify a fault, mistake, or behavior, usually with the goal of avoiding blame, judgement, or punishment.  So, what is your excuse when you do something you know is wrong?  Maybe what we need to do is start being accountable for our actions and quit blaming others.  It is something to pray about.  God Bless. Amen.

denise