In this Christmas UPGRADE, Dawn reminds us to make wise, proactive choices—even at Christmastime!
My Christmas "Elf on a Shelf," Ella Noelle, is responsible for all the things going wrong in my life this Christmas.
She's responsible for:
- My cookies that burned.
- My nearly-empty wallet.
- My 2-1/2 pound weight gain.
- My overbooked calendar.
- My angry outburst at the guy that cut me off on the way to the mall and my impatience waiting in a 40-minute line because I waited too late to shop.
Yeah, right.
I can say Ella Noelle is responsible all I want, but it doesn't make it so.
It's sort of like "The devil made me do it."
No. The devil may tempt us, but he can't force us to sin.
I remember when comedian Flip Wilson (no relation) made that remark famous in the early 1970s. For some time after, many of my friends used that as their excuse for foul-ups.
I remembered my childhood imaginary friend, Stinky Sam. Whenever I was caught in a sinful act, I'd tell myself, "That was Stinky Sam"—while I'd stand there looking totally (and adorably) innocent, sometimes holding the evidence of my "crime."
I think with some Christian maturity, I've finally outgrown those silly blame-game episodes. I've put the childish ways of blaming others behind me (1 Corinthians 13:11). I've taken more responsibility for my foolish choices.
Until I haven't.
Just yesterday, I caught myself blaming the devil after I took the third Christmas cookie.
I asked my husband, "Who emptied my wallet?" (after a trip to the mall).
I couldn't believe it was ME who uttered those nasty, impatient words at the store clerk.
The truth is, I still have to learn a lot about "owning up" when I blow it.
We're all responsible for our own ugly stuff.
The scriptures teach us the concept of personal responsiblity (see Ezekiel 18:20). Both negatively and positively, we all will reap what we sow (Galatians 6:7-8; Isaiah 3:10-11).
Here are biblical examples of some who tried to dodge responsibility when they sinned:
- Adam and Eve tried the blame game, but God confronted them about their sin (Genesis 3:12-13).
- Cain tried to cover up his sin, but God found him out (Genesis 4:9).
- Jonah tried to duck out of his disobedience, but he still had to answer to God (Jonah 1:7-8).
- Achan was responsible for his hidden sin at the city of Jericho (Joshua 7:14-15).
- David finally had to "fess up" to his sin—and he recognize who he had ultimately sinned against! (Psalm 51:4).
- Pontius Pilate said he was innocent and blamed the Jews for Jesus' crucifixion, but God saw his heart (Matthew 27:24).
God's word of warning to us is: "Be sure your sin will find you out!" (Numbers 32:23). God sees and knows. We are without excuse (Romans 1:20).
He takes note of even our secret sins (Psalm 139:1-4, 11-12, 23-24; Psalm 69:5; 90:8; Jeremiah 16:17-18). But He can help us turn from those sins hidden in our hearts (Psalm 19:12).
Today, I praise the Lord because He has a solution for our sin.
The great gift of Christmas is God reaching down to man with abundant grace.
In great love and mercy, when we confess, our faithful Father forgives (1 John 1:9; Proverbs 28:13).
The biggest responsibility we have is to repent, believe the Gospel and live for Christ—making the wise and godly choices that please Him (Mark 1:15; 1 John 4:9-10).
We can't blame anyone but ourselves if we fail to do that: not the Elf, the devil, or even Stinky Sam!
Are you blaming others or trying to cover up your sin? How can embracing the great truth of 1 John 1:9 encourage you to come clean before the Lord and move forward in freedom?
Dawn Wilson, founder and President of Heart Choices Today, is a speaker and author, and the 
creator of three blogs: Heart Choices Today, LOL with God (with Pam Farrel), and Upgrade with Dawn. She is a contracted researcher/reviewer for Revive Our Heartsand a writer at Crosswalk.com. She and her husband Bob live in Southern California and have two grown, married sons, three granddaughters and a rascally maltipoo, Roscoe.