Saturday, February 18, 2012

Whose Fault Is It?

The Blame Game
by Aleta Kay
        
         I've been studying Biblical counseling lately because I really want to be able to help people. We live in a world with a massive number of hurting people. Our jails and mental institutions are filled with people who can't deal with life. I know I can't help everyone but I want to help as many as I can.
         Pop psychology says nothing is your (our fault). It was our great-grandfather's fault because he was mean to his kids and that made them mean to their kids, yada, yada, yada. So--what--that means we don't have choices? If we don't have choices, if we are not responsible for our actions then there is no point to the Ten Commandments. There is no point to having laws or rules because "we can't help it."
         We have been told we live in a sick society. We have been told that every sin we commit is a disease: alcoholism, drug addiction, homosexuality. If that is true then God is a liar and completely unable to help us. I am living proof that that is a lie. God took away my temper and replaced it with His peace. He took me from being an abusive parent to a loving, caring, nurturing parent. Yes, there are still some things I struggle with like self-esteem. I struggle with self-confidence, believing that I can achieve anything worth while. I do not have an organized mind, therefore not an organized house either. I used to tell myself it was because that's how my mom was. Our house was clean but cluttered and things scattered. I can use that excuse for myself or I can let God teach me to be better. I just have to learn to listen to Him.
          The Bible tells us not to be drunk with wine, wherein is excess but be filled with the Holy Spirit. That means we have a choice. Every alcoholic started with a drink. I know that not everyone who drinks is an alcoholic, but if you never take that first drink you can be sure you will never be an alcoholic. If a drug addict never takes that first drug he/she will never be a drug addict. People use drugs and alcohol as a means of socialization but also as a means of dulling emotional pain, or escaping from problems they don't want to face. This is sin because those things take the place of God in our lives--a God who loves us and wants to help us. And He is the only one who can set us free from those things. More about this later. I have to leave for work now.

Here's a teaser for you, though, totally unrelated:
My newest novel "Mending Fences" will soon be availabe in e-book form through Amazon.com. The story is about Robert McGinn, ex-preacher, ex-husband, ex-father who has been diagnosed with a terminal illness. Now he'd like to mend all the broken fences in his life. Is he too late?


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