The Quote:
“Once I gave up the hunt for villains, I had little recourse but to take responsibility for my choices… Needless to say, this is far less satisfying that nailing villains. It also turned out to be more healing in the end.”
Barbara Brown-Taylor
Wisdom from Scripture:
Genesis 3: 6-12 (The Message)
When the Woman saw that the tree looked like good eating and realized what she would get out of it—she’d know everything!—she took and ate the fruit and then gave some to her husband, and he ate. 7 Immediately the two of them did “see what’s really going on”—saw themselves naked! They sewed fig leaves together as makeshift clothes for themselves.
8 When they heard the sound of God strolling in the garden in the evening breeze, the Man and his Wife hid in the trees of the garden, hid from God.
9 God called to the Man: “Where are you?” 10 He said, “I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked. And I hid.” 11 God said, “Who told you you were naked? Did you eat from that tree I told you not to eat from?” 12 The Man said, “The Woman you gave me as a companion, she gave me fruit from the tree, and, yes, I ate it.”
- John 1: 8-10 (The Message)
If we claim that we’re free of sin, we’re only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—make a clean breast of them—he won’t let us down; he’ll be true to himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we’ve never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God—make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God.
Prayer:
God, give us the courage to own our mistakes in the same way we own our achievements. Help us to learn from our shortcomings, grow in character and gain strength of faith and humility. Remind us gently of your ways when we want to lay blame on others.
Amen.