The reason placing blame repeatedly fails to work is that I repeatedly place it on everyone else instead of where it actually belongs.

To incessantly blame others for my shortcomings is cowardice borne of fear, fed by fear, and haunted by fear. To be steadfastly accountable for my shortcomings is bravery borne of God, fed by God, and blessed by God.

In its devious and stealthy way, a lie reinforced can begin to look like a truth that we desperately hoped wasn’t true. But we must always remember that no amount of reinforcement will ever make a lie the truth. Ever.

The question of the fearful person is “who did it?” The question of the courageous person is “did I have a part in it?” The former is something of a witch-hunt. The latter is a hunt for a solution.

I paved the path to the very place I don’t want to be. But passing the blame off to someone else doesn’t put me any place else.

To place blame typically has nothing to do with some judicious effort to seek out the origins of some misfortune. Rather, it is to make certain that the origins are not sought out in ourselves.