By: Undre Griggs, Jr. One of the more shameful traits of humans that we underestimate is making excuses. There are numerous reasons why we may make excuses, but none of them are reasons we should have a part in. We find excuses come from fear and a lack of trust, Exodus 4:10-12 (NKJV): Then Moses said to the Lord, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” So the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord? Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.” We find excuses come from selfishness and laziness, Luke 14:18-20 (NIV): “But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’ “Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’ “Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’ We also see excuses form when we do something we know we should not be doing, Genesis 3:12-13 (ESV): The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” Avoiding excuses may be challenging because we may not recognize when we are making them. Often times, we truly believe the explanation we provided for our shortcoming. We really were tired when we decided not to attend worship service; and we definitely were busy when we did not follow through on a commitment or meet a deadline. To recognize an excuse is to understand we had an opportunity to do right, yet chose to ignore it and/or do wrong. We chose to do whatever we did the night before that contributed to us being tired the next morning. The same explanation is applicable when we say we are “too busy” to complete a task. We frequently find ourselves able to make time for the things that matter to us, so we should be able to make time for things that matter to others. While a life without excuses may not be easy, there is no doubt it will be rewarding to those who can achieve it. Galatians 6:9 (ESV): And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
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