By: Dr. Jimmy Young
One of the obstacles that I often face in counseling is the time-honored tendency to shift the blame. Adam did it; Eve did it. So, we’ve learned it from the best. But in the counseling setting I work hard at getting people to the place of taking responsibility for their own actions/sin. I want them to own it. No “buts” allowed. I want them to see the truth of what God said often to Israel: "Your ways and your deeds have brought this upon you" (Jeremiah 4:18a).
Why? Am I just ornery, or even cruel? Maybe. But I think that this is my motivation. Owning your sin is the first step in repentance. Once I stop blaming anybody and everybody else for what I did, I can then face God in confession.
The great door of hope that we as Christian counselors have to offer is the restoration brought on by Holy Spirit-authored repentance. Granted, there may be consequences of my choices that I still have to face. But the sweetness with my heavenly Father, which is invaluable, can be restored. And the first step to that restoration is when I, in a detailed way, own and confess what I did, and stop blaming anyone or anything else.
It wasn’t my low blood sugar that made me lose my temper. It was my sin.
