OWNERSHIP
There is an advanced level of maturity reached when one can own their mistakes as well as their successes. It is easy to take responsibility for the victories that come our way, but pride and possible embarrassment usually gets in the way of taking accountability for ill-advised actions or words.
Turning to Scripture, we see Adam being addressed by God after the woman and man had both eaten of the forbidden apple (Genesis 3:1-13). Adam passed-the-buck to Eve and Eve passed-the-buck or blame to the Serpent, also known as the Devil. So, our tendency to not take ownership of our mistakes goes back to the beginning. In this case, sin or disobedience caused both Adam and Eve to immediately get defensive and begin looking for someone else to take ownership of this mistake.
I ponder sometimes what history would have been like if Adam or Eve took ownership of their mistake. What if one of them said something like, "Lord, nobody told us we were naked. We figured it out by ourselves by eating of the fruit we were not suppose to. I knew it was wrong, but wanted to be like you knowing good and evil. It is my fault. I am sorry." I wonder what would have happened if those words or something like them were spoken. But they were not and it is up to us to speak words like that today. Of course not about a forbidden fruit, but specific to the the mistakes we don't want to own.
God has given humanity mastery over things. Being a master means having power and having power means having responsibility or ownership. God made Adam and Eve, plus the rest of us, stewards of this earth. To Abraham He made him caretaker of a lot of land. Time after time the Lord gifts us with talent, treasure and time. Whatever the Lord gifts us with, including our very lives, the time is long passed for us to take responsibility for the bad as well as the good. For all our thoughts, actions and words we need to take Ownership.
Turning to Scripture, we see Adam being addressed by God after the woman and man had both eaten of the forbidden apple (Genesis 3:1-13). Adam passed-the-buck to Eve and Eve passed-the-buck or blame to the Serpent, also known as the Devil. So, our tendency to not take ownership of our mistakes goes back to the beginning. In this case, sin or disobedience caused both Adam and Eve to immediately get defensive and begin looking for someone else to take ownership of this mistake.
I ponder sometimes what history would have been like if Adam or Eve took ownership of their mistake. What if one of them said something like, "Lord, nobody told us we were naked. We figured it out by ourselves by eating of the fruit we were not suppose to. I knew it was wrong, but wanted to be like you knowing good and evil. It is my fault. I am sorry." I wonder what would have happened if those words or something like them were spoken. But they were not and it is up to us to speak words like that today. Of course not about a forbidden fruit, but specific to the the mistakes we don't want to own.
God has given humanity mastery over things. Being a master means having power and having power means having responsibility or ownership. God made Adam and Eve, plus the rest of us, stewards of this earth. To Abraham He made him caretaker of a lot of land. Time after time the Lord gifts us with talent, treasure and time. Whatever the Lord gifts us with, including our very lives, the time is long passed for us to take responsibility for the bad as well as the good. For all our thoughts, actions and words we need to take Ownership.
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