The Blame Game

Are you among those who feel the need to blame someone for your problems, failures, flaws, mistakes, sins, shortcomings, etc.?  And is the someone you blame 99% of the time yourself?  Well, keep in mind something the Lord showed me just recently (after a lifetime of beating myself up for all of my failings, flaws, not measuring up to what I should be or want to be, etc.):  Jesus paid the price for the things we beat ourselves up for.  His Passion and the Cross paid the price for ALL of our shortcomings, failures, shame, sins, flaws, mistakes, and everything else we beat ourselves up for. He certainly doesn’t deserve the blame for the ways we fall short but His acts of sacrificial love and taking our shortcomings upon Himself paid the price so that we don’t have to beat ourselves up.  It’s not that we don’t have to repent and allow the Spirit to change us to be more like Jesus but we have no reason to waste our time berating ourselves or worse, hating ourselves, when we fail or make a mistake.