Making thriving disciples of Jesus, who make more disciples of Jesus
Who is Justifying Your Actions?
“Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.” Romans 10:3
It’s scary how often we choose to justify our own actions instead of seeking God’s grace in our lives. How often have you heard yourself justifying your anger, sarcasm or actions by saying, ‘I was tired,’ ‘I’m going through a hard time’ or ‘I just did that because…’ We can all think of the excuses we use. I’ve often heard Christians excusing their actions by saying “It’s just the way I am.” When our actions hurt or cause others to stumble, it is sin. Grace doesn’t give us freedom to sin or justify our sins. And if we justify our own sins, are we really depending on the grace of God? Or are we trying to convince ourselves we aren’t really sinning if we have a ‘good enough’ excuse?
Years ago, a friend of ours that was a significant part of our ministry team would regularly make sarcastic and inappropriate remarks going into the services and even during times of prayer. Finally, my husband let her know that her remarks were hindering the Holy Spirit. She responded by saying, “It’s just the way I am.” When he tried to encourage her not to grieve the Holy Spirit, she quit the team. Other people came to her defense and said, “It’s just who she is. She’s always been sarcastic.” It’s scary if we have allowed ourselves to live in such a way that the Christians around us accept our sinful actions as normal Christian behavior.
Self-justification is more dangerous than a bold lie, because it allows us to minimize our sins and make them ‘okay’. It is common in our culture to hear someone rationalize their mistakes and offensive behaviors. Because we have allowed this, the offensive consequences to others are usually ignored because our Christian culture has made it acceptable. We often self-justify our behavior when we hurt or offend someone. Consequently, we devalue the offended person, because our selfish behavior is now justified. When self-justification becomes a habit, we call it hypocrisy. When our friends allow us to live this way, we create a culture of hypocrisy. When new believers or unbelievers are devalued or exposed to a culture of hypocrisy, they will often walk away from faith in Jesus Christ. It grieves the heart of God to see hypocrisy or stumbling blocks in His Body. In fact, scripture reveals the only time Jesus became angry was when He witnessed hypocrisy. He despised hypocrisy. The sad truth is that when we start down this path, we often do not recognize it, because it is so common and acceptable among believers. If we validate another believer’s excuse, then we can use a similar excuse when we offend and sin. After all ‘I was tired’ or 'it's just the way I am.’
Jesus said, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” As we are walking, we must be constantly asking the Holy Spirit to examine our hearts and to keep us humble. As it is with many sins, the root is pride. In the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, the proud Pharisee is obsessed with justifying his own virtue, while the tax collector humbly asks God for mercy. We often don’t recognize ourselves as the Pharisee in this parable because we know Jesus is revealing his self-obsessed heart. But when our prayers become explanations and excuses instead of humble repentance then we resemble the Pharisee whether we like it or not.
Self-justifying is easier to recognize if we look for the red flags. Are you defensive? Do you tend to explain why you do what you do? We know that we are self-justifying when our excuses start with ‘I’. The only ‘I’ sentence we should say when we sin against someone is “I am sorry.” Ask the Holy Spirit to show you the ways that you justify anything that is displeasing to Him. Ponder your words and responses to others. Read over your texts, emails and messages from the last week. How often do you use the word ‘I’? Are you using it to explain, defend or justify your actions? Hopefully, your ‘I’ words are used in repentance or bringing value to others and God. When we sin, humble yourself, repent and depend on the grace of God.
