He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”  Genesis 3:10-13

There are very few things like the heat of having to answer for something you did wrong. The moments leading to your confession can be excruciating and filled with anxiety. And in those confrontational situations, something begins to happen whether you want it to or not: you start wondering who you can blame.  God saw everything Adam and Eve did. He questioned them to see if they would tell the truth. But they chose to play the blame game. Instead of facing the difficult reality of their own faults, they shifted the blame from one person to the next. 

If you find yourself face-to-face with the flames of accountability, you will probably be tempted to look out for number one. But you’ve got to check your motives. Be honest with yourself and others. And let God lead you to the freedom and growth of overcoming the tendency to play the blame game.

Lord, sometimes it’s hard to be honest when I am faced with confrontational situations. But I know that shifting the blame to others does nothing but reveal my own selfish desire to escape the heat. Help me to practice honesty in every situation. In Jesus’ name, Amen.