The Devil Made Me Do It

Satan was sitting on the steps of a church one day with his head hung down. A passerby noticed him and asked what was wrong. With tears in his eyes, Satan looked up and said, “The people in that church are always lying on me.”

I know that Satan is the father of lies, but sometimes we lie on him and blame him for some of the bad decisions that we make. We give Satan more power than he actually has. He can tempt us, but he cannot make us do anything. It is human nature for us to make excuses or look for someone or something to blame when we mess up.

I was a career criminal for twenty-two years. During that period, I spent a lot of time in courtrooms. You cannot imagine some of the excuses that I have heard when people stood in front of the judge. I have told some doozies myself. Some of them worked. Some of them didn’t.

My favorite plea in court was, “Guilty, with an explanation.” In other words, I did it, but let me tell you why. Then I would attempt to shift the blame on circumstances that were beyond my control. I guess that was my way of saying, “The devil made me do it.”

It has always been hard for me to accept responsibility for my failures. When I flunked in school, I said the teachers didn’t like me. When I was on the baseball team and made error, I said the sun was in my eyes. When I didn’t make my quota as a salesperson, I said our prices were too high. When I stepped outside of the will of God and did something that I knew was wrong, I said the devil made me do it.

We must accept responsibility and learn from our failures. I flunked in school because I didn’t study. I made the error on the field because I took my eyes off of the ball. I didn’t make my sales quota because I didn’t qualify the customers. I sinned against God because of a prayerless life.

Let’s stop making excuses and strive to do our very best. Don’t goof off at work just because your boss is not looking. Don’t cheat on a test because you didn’t study. Don’t sin against God because He is merciful.

My father’s favorite saying was, “If a task is once begun, never leave it till it’s done. Be the labor, great or small, do it well or not at all.”

The Apostle Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.” The devil never made me do anything. I did it because I wanted to.

AUDIO: "The Devil Made Me Do It"

- Rev. Burton Barr, Jr. (Author of The Hoodlum Preacher & Amazing Grace: The Storm Is Passing Over.)

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