Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life ^[a]in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 

Romans 8:1-2

The ball went sailing over the fence, crossed the street and rolled through the back lot of Target before it came to a rest.  The kids had been playing soccer, the fence was the goal and someone just scored a point and everyone should have been excited, but they weren’t.  They thought they were in trouble because of the ball being across the street now and began looking for someone to blame.  You shouldn’t have kicked it so hard.  Really?  The goalie should have stopped it.  Unlikely.  Well, you should have kicked it lower.  Maybe so.

I jumped in and blamed the teacher whom we all knew to be me.  A good teacher would know that the fence bordering the school property isn’t the best goal.  I hoped that by placing blame squarely where it belonged that they would get off each other’s backs, we could retrieve the ball and continue to play.  No harm, no foul.  But that wasn’t to be.  They had made a new game and were enjoying it too much to stop.  When the blaming escalated to yelling, I separated the kids and said they had to find somewhere else to play some other game.

Blame is so easy to get caught up in and deflected to others.  If I can blame you, then I can’t be at fault, right?  Blame leads to shame and condemnation and those things separate us from our Father and the people in our lives.  A live that could be filled with joy and peace can deteriorate like that soccer game all because of blame.  And who wins then?

Taking responsibility for our mistakes is one thing, blaming and beating ourselves up over it is another.  Jesus showed us that forgiveness is available, forgiveness to cover our sins and free us from shame. Remember the story of the woman caught in adultery?  Jesus told the accusers that they could blame her only if they were totally free of sin.  That silenced them and stopped their condemnation.  Then Jesus told the woman that He didn’t condemn her and to go her way and sin no more.  The blame game stops with forgiveness, forgiveness for me when I want to accuse myself and forgiveness for others when I want to accuse them.

Jesus, how amazing it is to read of Your forgiveness extending to that woman and to know that You are no respecter of persons. What You have done for others, You will do for me.  Help me when I want to blame myself or others to see You standing over us saying go your way and sin no more.  Thank You for not condemning me  Thank You for setting me free from the blame game and the consequences that come from it.   In Jesus’s name, I ask, amen.

I would love to hear from you. Please let me know if I can pray for you as well.

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