======================================================================== (CLIP) STOP BLAMING OTHERS by Zac Poonen ======================================================================== Summary: This sermon emphasizes the importance of taking responsibility for our actions and not blaming others, drawing parallels between Adam's blame-shifting in the Garden of Eden and the thief on the cross next to Jesus. It highlights the significance of owning up to our faults, seeking forgiveness, and the profound impact of personal accountability in our relationship with God. Topics: "Personal Accountability", "Seeking Forgiveness" Scripture References: Genesis 3:12, Luke 23:39, Proverbs 28:13, 1 John 1:9, Romans 14:12, Galatians 6:5, James 5:16 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DESCRIPTION ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This sermon emphasizes the importance of taking responsibility for our actions and not blaming others, drawing parallels between Adam's blame- shifting in the Garden of Eden and the thief on the cross next to Jesus. It highlights the significance of owning up to our faults, seeking forgiveness, and the profound impact of personal accountability in our relationship with God. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTENT ------------------------------------------------------------------------ You know how little children are, all of you. Sometimes you have a fight with somebody and mummy asks you, why did you hit him? And sometimes you'll say, he hit me first. There's always a habit of putting the blame on somebody else. Do you find that in your life sometimes? Blaming somebody else, he did that or she did that, that's why I did this. Okay, in the Bible there was a man like that. I'll tell you. You know his name. His name was Adam. Do you know Adam? He was the first man. And God told him not to do something and he went and did it. He took something from a tree. Then God came and said, did you do this? Actually he didn't do it himself, his wife took it and gave it to him. But he ate it. So God came and asked Adam, did you eat from that tree? He should have said, yes. God, I'm sorry, I ate that. But instead of saying that, you know what he said? He said, my wife gave it to me. He was trying to put the blame on somebody else. That's the first thing you see in the Bible of a man putting the blame on somebody else. And God put them out of heaven. Out of Eden, out of that garden. So you can't come back here. So what we learn from that is, never blame somebody else. If you did something wrong, okay, he hit you first, never mind. But you hit him, didn't you? You say, I'm sorry. Don't worry about whether he hit you first. That's his business. So don't try to give an excuse when you do something wrong to blame somebody else. Now I'll tell you another story of a man who did not blame others. Do you know that Jesus was crucified on a cross? You know that story? And do you know that two others were crucified beside him? They were very bad people. They had killed people, they were thieves. And do you know that those two bad people, one went to heaven, the other went to hell? You know that? You don't know that? Okay, let me tell you. Do you know that? Some of you? Okay, some of you know it. One of them went to heaven. Both were equally bad. But one went to heaven, the other went to hell. You know why? Because, only one reason. Now listen to this, all of you children. That man went to heaven only because of one reason. And that's a good lesson for all of you to learn. He said, Lord Jesus, it is my fault. That's not what Adam said. Adam said, it's my wife's fault. So God said, get out of here. And this man said, it's my fault, even though he did so many wrong things. He didn't blame anybody else. He didn't say, my mother brought me up badly or I got into fellowship with bad friends. He never said any of that. He said, my fault. And Jesus said, really? It's your fault? Okay. You're willing to take the blame? You don't want to blame anybody else? Then you're forgiven. Come with me to heaven today. What a wonderful lesson we can learn from that. Tell me again, what did Adam do? Blame somebody else? And God kicked him out. What did this thief do? Took the blame himself and he went to heaven that day. So there are a lot of lessons we can learn from these stories for ourselves as to how we should live the Christian life. ======================================================================== Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/y3sG4siZTT8.mp4 Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/zac-poonen/clip-stop-blaming-others/ ========================================================================