Lies: Devotions From Time Of GraceExemplo

Everything’s somebody else’s fault 

Perhaps you’ve heard of conspiracy theorists. There are networks of suspicious people who believe, for instance, that a secret cabal of world masters is actually pulling the strings of all governments, that all elections are total shams. Others believe that the AIDS crisis in Africa is a deliberate American/European biological attack to keep the continent down, or that the Kennedy assassination was a CIA plot, or that the 9/11 air attack on New York and Washington was planned by secret government operatives. 

All conspiracy theorists have this in common—they believe that all the bad things they see around them are somebody else’s fault. You may not think of yourself as a conspiracy theorist, but you do know the alluring temptation of blaming other people for your troubles. But when your blaming finger is quick to point, you are unlikely to see clearly that your own attitudes, words, and actions have a lot to do with your problems. “Who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults” (Psalm 19:12).

Taking spiritual inventory and being willing to recognize and repent of your own sins will go a long way toward explaining what’s going wrong in your life. It’s also productive—blaming others never brings about change, because you can’t change other people. But you can change yourself. 

Has God sent you a friend or family member who will lovingly tell you the truth about yourself? Can you stand hearing your own faults called out? 

Want more on fighting negative thoughts? Get the book A Change of Story book here.