Lately I’ve been noticing the excuses we make.  Excuses that may sound good and even have some truth to them but the motives behind them make them wrong.  We give them as “reasons” for NOT doing something that we should do but just don’t want to do.  Sometimes these decisions are really based on our like or dislike of the project or event set before us.  Now we are not talking about situations where we know something is wrong to do, but about those times when we use our preferences to determine our decisions.   Now certainly if we are picking paint color for our home, or purchasing a car, our preference would carry the stronger reason for the decision; but those are not the times we are talking about here.  In this post we are talking about the times we “make excuses” so we don’t have to take our place as we committed ourselves to.  Now don’t go off on the deep end here thinking that you can never change your schedule because obviously all of us have to do that too.

Here, we are talking about making decisions – or changing our mind – based on our preference of wants or likes.  Such as times when we are tired and just not wanting to go out in the evening to a meeting that we’ve committed to attend; or that it’s too rainy or too cold to go out again!  Hey, I’m guilty too.  There is truth in the statement or excuse but the motive has a wrong twist to it.  Here again we are not talking about those times when our schedule has gotten ahead of us and we actually do need to stay at home and rest.  I’ve been there too.  Are you confused yet?  Let’s think about it for a moment.

The dictionary defines both words similarly – as a statement offered in explanation or justification, or to a change of mind; an apology, to release from an obligation; therefore we use them interchangeably. To me the difference is based more correctly on the fact that a reason is the full truth, while the excuse is a partial truth.  The full truth may be that physically we need the rest; the partial truth would be that we are tired but just don’t want to make the effort to fulfill our commitment.  We really do need to watch for hidden motives that might cause us to not walk worthy of our calling in Christ Jesus.  (Ephesians 4:1 and Colossians 1:10)

Excuses keep us from moving forward in the promises of God, hindering us from fulfilling God’s plan for our lives.  If we don’t do our part those promises and plans will not come to pass in our lives. We must learn to NOT excuse our procrastination, our laziness, lack of diligence, and disobedience.  We must understand that using a truth to justify a wrong motive is a sin.  We learn from James 4:17 that, “to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin”.

This week let’s prayerfully ask our Heavenly Father to search our heart and reveal to us any double standards in our walk with Him; repent if there is; and commit to walk worthy of His calling.