“Could Blaming Others Be Keeping You Stuck?” December 2

Have you ever thought: “I wouldn't be this way if they hadn't…” Or: “I can't help it. It's my circumstances.” Sometimes other people really do sin against us. Sometimes our upbringing leaves deep scars. Sometimes poverty, illness, family dysfunction, loss, or biological weaknesses make life far harder than it might otherwise have been. Those things matter. But what happens when they become the explanation for everything we do? What happens when someone else's sin, our circumstances, or even our biology becomes the reason we no longer believe meaningful change is possible? Blameshifting can feel like relief because it moves responsibility away from us. But it can also quietly rob us of hope. Because if someone or something else completely controls who we are and how we respond, what possibility is there for real change? Scripture gives us a different answer—one that takes suffering and influence seriously without surrendering personal responsibility. And that difference may be far more hopeful than it sounds. We'll also look at Daniel's remarkable prophecies, the challenge of praising God while living in a fallen world, and another example of how the Old and New Testaments fit together as one unfolding story—God's story.