For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  Romans 3:23

One thing that never ceased to amaze me while I worked in law enforcement, was the number of people who denied their guilt while knowing they were guilty. I wish I had a dollar for every time someone said to me, “It wasn’t me.” They knew they were guilty but did not want to face the consequences of their guilt.

Sadly, we often respond to God in the same way. We know we have sinned, are guilty, and deserve punishment, but we say it wasn’t us. I’ve come to the realization, however, that it was me. It was me who drove those nails into Jesus’ hands and feet. It was me that put him up on that cross. It was my sin that put Him there. I have no one else to blame.

When God confronted Adam and Eve in Genesis chapter 3 after they had sinned, they tried to play the blame game. Adam blamed it on Eve. Eve blamed it on the serpent. Neither of them wanted to accept responsibility for what they had done.

God gives us free will. He will send His Holy Spirit to dwell within our hearts. The problem is we have not because we ask not (James 4:2). We don’t ask because we want to do things our way. We don’t ask God to remove bitterness and anger because we want to hold on to it. We don’t ask God to soften our hearts because we want them to be hard against our enemies. We don’t ask God to help our enemies to come to salvation because we don’t think they deserve it. When we don’t ask for God’s Holy Spirit to fill our hearts, our hearts can become full of hatred, bitterness, anger and strife. When this happens, we are living according to the flesh, and we are not exhibiting the fruits of the Spirit.

You can choose to repent for your sin and ask God’s forgiveness and you can receive it (1 John 1:9). You can choose to ask God to fill your heart with His Holy Spirit to help you walk in the Spirit, so you do not gratify the desires of the flesh (Galatians 5:16).

Should you choose to sin, then don’t tell God it wasn’t you, he knows the truth and knows you are lying. Should you choose to hold on to bitterness, anger, envy, strife and selfish ambition, don’t expect God to bless that. Should you choose not to glorify God in all you do, don’t expect God’s blessings on your life.

Should you choose to run around saying, “It wasn’t me” and not accepting the fact that you have sinned, then you must know you are only fooling yourself (1 John 1:8).

We all have sin in our lives. Stop denying your sin and be honest with yourself. Turn to God for help. Know it was me and it was you. Our sins nailed Jesus to the cross. He came to earth and lived a life free of sin so He could be the perfect sacrifice, without blemish, for our sins. Do you think He wanted to suffer torture, humiliation and death on a cross? We know He didn’t because He prayed to God this from Him if possible, in Luke 22:42. Most importantly, however, He also prayed that God’s will be done. And He was willing to surrender His life to God’s will.

Are you willing to say, “It was me, I did it,”?  Are you willing to admit you are a sinner and not worthy of His mercy and His grace? This is where we have to start. We start with humility. We start by understanding we are not worthy. We start by understanding this incredible gift He gives that we don’t deserve. We then apologize for our sin which required Jesus’ sacrifice. We ask for His forgiveness, and we accept His grace and accept Him as our Lord and Savior.

Stop denying your sin. Admit you are a sinner, believe in Him, confess your sins to Him and repent. He is waiting with open arms. What are you waiting for?

Have a great day!