It Starts with Me

Looking at the way we think & act (meaning me!), there's a regular pattern.  We look for someone to blame, some way to shift responsibility, something that gives us an out.  It's been that way since the beginning- just look at Adam & Eve's response in Genesis 3:
“Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?” The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.” Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”
Shifting the blame and ducking responsibility comes as easily to us as breathing.  At least, at last check, most people don't need to be reminded to breathe and no kid needs to be told to blame someone else (or claim "It wasn't me!").  It's all part of the unfortunate sin nature we inherited from our forebears...

 Thus, "all have sinned" not "some" or "a few" or even "most" in Romans 3.23.  I mean, think about it for a second- has anyone ever taught a kid to dodge the blame?  I know at least none of my kids were taught the behavior, except as they see it played out in my life.  That's the hard truth about anything we see that needs "changed": it has to start with me.

 No matter what lofty ideal we proclaim or what we think we're saying, our action portray something else, leading to the oft quoted St. Francis: "Preach the gospel always, use words when necessary."  Our lives preach and they're often the only Jesus someone will ever see.  At your best, at your worst, your life is what shows people who Jesus is.  That snarky comment you made, the way you treated your neighbor, the way you treat those you come into contact with in daily life are either seeing Jesus truly through you or seeing a false image of Him.

 That's why we don't have any excuse for not being Jesus.  Just look at what Paul told Timothy (1 Tim 4.12):
Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.
So here's the skinny: God expects us to live like Jesus.  To talk like Jesus, to act like Jesus, to very literally be Jesus where ever we are.  Is that a tall order?  You betcha.  Is it something out of our league?  Definitely.  But that's entirely the point.  Your surrender is the starting point to God's working in you.  His Spirit is what empowers us to come remotely close to being like Jesus.  So the question is, have you let go to let God?  Because it starts with you...

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