In looking at society we can identify the decay of responsibility. Few people today take responsibility for their actions. For the most part, accountability eludes our society. People want to play the victim, when they should be taking responsibility for what they did. It’s easier to play the victim than it is to acknowledge our part in what happened. People will do everything they can to avoid the consequences of their actions. They are quick to put the blame on someone else, and society allows them to do so. The shunning of responsibility is nothing new. Adam and Eve were the first people to blame someone else for their actions. The blame game started all the way back in the Garden of Eden. Neither wanted to take responsibility for disobeying God.
Eve eats the fruit that God said not to eat, then she heads over to Adam and he eats some of the fruit. Because of this they become aware of things they weren’t aware of before. They realized they were naked, so when God came for His daily morning visit, they hid from Him. Even though nothing is hidden from God, they hide. When they come out of hiding God poses the question, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree I commanded you not to eat from?” (Genesis 3:11). Adam could have simply replied “Yes.” However, this isn’t the case. Instead Adam goes right into “The woman You put here with me - she gave me some of the fruit from the tree and I ate it.” (Genesis 3:12). Notice that Adam blames God and Eve for his actions. He starts with blaming God. The woman “You” put here gave me some of the fruit. Adam is pushing responsibility off on God. And if that’s not enough he follows with blaming Eve. Adam sees himself as the victim here.
After the interaction with Adam, God turns His attention to Eve. “Then the Lord said to the woman, ‘what is this you have done?’” (Genesis 3:13). Do you think the woman takes responsibility for her actions? No! She pushes blame to the serpent. “The woman said, ‘The serpent deceived me, and I ate.’” (Genesis 3:13). Eve is also playing the victim. Notice she says, I was deceived. And so, the blaming has begun and it continues today.
Responsibility is an important part of life. Without responsibility there is no growth. When we start blaming others for our actions and start owning up to our part we can begin to grow into the person God intends for us to be. Taking responsibility does come with consequences, but we can learn from them. We need to stop hiding from God. We need to stop blaming others for our actions. We need to start taking responsibility for what we do. We aren’t hiding anything from God, but we still hide from Him. God isn’t responsible for the decision we make. Other people aren’t responsible for what we say, think, or do. The responsibility falls on us.
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