“For it is written: ‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God.’ So then each of us shall give account of himself to God” (Romans 14:11-12). The Bible promises that every one of us will give an account of ourselves to God. By this, we understand that God is holding us responsible for our thoughts, words, and actions.

Many people today fail to own up to their mistakes and accept responsibility for their actions. A common defense mechanism is people to find someone else to blame for their sinful attitudes and their harmful behavior.

The Blame Game isn’t new. When God confronted Adam with his sin, asking if he had eaten from the forbidden tree, Adam and Eve both played the Blame Game. “Then the man said, ‘The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.’ And the Lord God said to the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’ The woman said, ‘The serpent deceived me, and I ate’” (Genesis 3:12-13).

Notice the destructive power of sin. Adam went from being grateful for his companion (Gen. 2:18-23) to throwing her under the bus. He tried to push the blame for his sin off on his wife. She tried to push the blame off on the devil.

This wasn’t the last we read of the Blame Game in the Bible. King Saul was told to go and utterly destroy the Amalekites and all that they had. Instead, he spared the king and the best of the animals (1 Sam. 15:3, 8-9). When confronted with his failure to obey the Lord’s command, the king tried to blame others. “But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal” (v. 21). He was the commander. Nothing happened in that battle without his authority. However, he needed someone to blame, and he tried to transfer the responsibility to his soldiers.

Pontius Pilate was the Roman governor of Judea during the ministry of our Lord. He had the ultimate authority over the land. Jesus was brought to Him for execution. After examining Him, Pilate realized He was innocent (Luke 23:14-15). The leaders of the Jews would not accept this verdict. They persisted in demanding Jesus’ execution. Pilate had the authority to dismiss this hearing but chose to condemn Jesus to crucifixion. To ease his conscience, Pilate played a version of the Blame Game. “When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, ‘I am innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see to it’” (Matt. 27:24).

King David was the man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22). Instead of playing the Blame Game, he took responsibility the moment Nathan confronted him with his sin. “So David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the Lord.’ And Nathan said to David, ‘The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die’” (2 Sam. 12:13).

Forgiveness came after David took responsibility for his own actions. The Bible doesn’t say anything about Adam, Eve, Saul, or Pilate being forgiven! One serious consequence of playing the Blame Game is that it makes forgiveness impossible. If we don’t take responsibility for our sins, we will not confess them and repent, which means we will not be forgiven (Acts 8:22; 1 John 1:9).

Don’t choose temporary relief of guilt over eternal punishment for your sins. Don’t play the Blame Game.