Taking Responsibility for Our Actions

“The woman saw that the tree was beautiful, that its fruit was good to eat, and that it would make her wise. So, she took some of its fruit and ate it. She also gave some of the fruit to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. Then, it was as if their eyes were opened. They realized they were naked, so they sewed fig leaves together and made something to cover themselves.” – Genesis 3:6-7

Did you know that even from the beginning of time, people have not taken responsibility for their actions? In Genesis 3:12 after Adam ate the fruit from the tree that God commanded him not to, he blamed his wife for his actions. Adam’s wife, Eve, also did not take responsibility for her actions and blamed the snake for eating the fruit (Genesis 3:13). If we do not take responsibility for our actions, God will not forgive us. We will be punished by God for our sins just like He did with Adam, Eve, and the snake. God cursed the snake by making his descendants his enemies but also making the snake lower than all of the other animals in the world (Genesis 3:14-15).

Adam and Eve’s punishment involved Adam becoming head of the household which included being head of his wife. God also punished Eve by allowing her to experience a lot of pain during childbirth (Genesis 3:16). Since Adam listened to Eve, God cursed the ground he worked. He had to work hard for his food all the days of his life. Furthermore, when he died, he returned to dust which he came from (Genesis 3:17-19). God does not mess around when it comes to our disobedience or sin. We cannot fool Him by blaming others for what we have done. God knows our hearts and sees what we do. Therefore, we cannot hide anything from Him.

However, God wants us to change. Change involves confessing our sins to Him. When we confess what we have done and are truly sorry for it, He promises to forgive us (1 John 1:9). God does because He is very merciful and does not enjoy punishing people (Ephesians 2:4). He has to punish us since He is holy and cannot allow people to get away with sin. Nevertheless, God, who is full of mercy, had a plan to save sinners through the death of His son. Thanks to Jesus, we do not have to suffer eternally for our sins. Jesus took that responsibility on the cross for us (Romans 6:23, Romans 5:15-21). Today is the day for us to take full responsibility for our actions since salvation is a free gift given by God to people and should be taken seriously.

Prayer of the day:

Dear heavenly Father,

Thank you for opening our minds to the fact that we are sinners. Being a sinner means that we do things that are against Your holiness. That is a reason why we need Your grace and mercy. Please help us not to blame others for our actions and help us to confess and repent of our sins to You. When we do, You promise to forgive us and that forgiveness helps us to change. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!