Six Temptations of Failure, Day 4 of 6
Temptation #4: Blaming Others
Taking responsibility for our actions is an important step in our emotional and spiritual maturity. Guard yourself against placing the bulk of the blame on someone else for everything that is wrong in your life. Doing so has several consequences:
- It changes the way you think, eventually causing to think of yourself (consciously or subconsciously) as a victim.
- It stunts your emotional and spiritual growth because it cheats you from learning what God wants you to learn from the experience.
- At some level, you are lying to yourself and others. God does not honor dishonesty.
- On a practical level, you’re not fooling others and you will develop a reputation as a blame-shifter and someone who lacks integrity.
It’s no fun shouldering the responsibility for a failure, but when it is appropriate, don’t hesitate to do so. Remember, don’t let the failure define you or spread it’s branches, but do accept the responsibility for your mistakes. Then take these actions:
- Ask God to forgive you if there was any sin involved.
- Ask others to forgive you if you committed any wrong against them.
- Ask God (and perhaps others) for His leading in the current situation and future situations.
- Let it go. Don’t carry the failure with you into the future. Leave it in the past. Don’t let a failure take root or spread it’s territory. It’s time for God to begin a new work!
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Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.