A Very Merry COVID ChristmasSample

Praise God—You Are Blameless

A few years ago, I attended a presentation about the differences between Western cultures (like America) and Eastern cultures (like China). The presenter suggested to us that a key distinction was that most Eastern cultures tend to think in terms of honor/shame while most Americans, like me, default toward guilt/blame.

Think of American sports. When your favorite team loses, what do you tend to do? You blame someone! “The quarterback has got to go! The coach needs to be fired immediately! Management has got to change!” Our hearts rush toward assigning guilt, pointing fingers, and blaming sinners.

I’m so glad that God doesn’t work that way. Although our sin should have left us with blame (and shame), listen to what the “worst of sinners,” the apostle Paul, wrote about God: “For [God] chose us in [Christ] before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight” (Ephesians 1:4). The result of God choosing us as his people is that we are, through Jesus, blameless in his sight.

Because of Jesus, you are blame-less. God isn’t blaming you.

Maybe it’s time you agreed with him. I wonder if you’re holding on to a sin from your past, refusing to blow the final whistle and end your personal blame game. Maybe you were sexually promiscuous in college. Maybe you pushed your daughter into getting an abortion to avoid the embarrassment to your family. Maybe you had a pattern of arguing over every issue, a habit that unraveled your relationship with your adult children. Maybe it was pornography. Or an affair. Or putting your career before everything else in life.

It’s good to hate such sins as much as God does, to repent of them and drag them to the cross. But it’s just as good to believe Paul’s blessing when he declares, “You are blameless.” Jesus came into our world at Bethlehem and, just a few miles north in Jerusalem, took all of that blame to a cross. Because of Jesus, God isn’t pointing the finger or letting your sin come between his delight in you.

As we approach the end of another year, it’s easy to look back with regret, guilt, and shame. So let’s allow the Savior of the nations to get the final word on this year, a word that leaves us with more blessing and less blame. Quiet the noise around you and listen as Jesus himself smiles and says . . .

“You are blameless.”