adminArthur MararaMotivation
“SUCCESS on any major scale requires you to accept responsibility . . . . In the final analysis, the one quality that all successful people have is the ability to take on responsibility.” [Michael Korda]. The true test of maturity is our readiness to take responsibility for the consequences of our actions or inactions no matter how uncomfortable they might be. The easiest thing for most us is to find a scapegoat to justify our actions or inactions. It makes us feel better; we do not have to ‘face’ the realities of our decision. We place the blame squarely on someone or something. It is not uncommon for the devil to be at the receiving end the majority of the times. All the fingers point to him for everything that happens to many people. Figure this out; A broken business – the devil, A failed interview – the devil, A child who has not performed well at school – the devil, An interview which has been failed – the devil, A marriage which has broken down – the devil, A spouse who engages in extra-marital affairs – the devil, A guy who has impregnated a girl or a girl who has been impregnated – the devil, A corrupt executive who has swindled a firm of thousands or millions of dollars – the devil.
Blaming the devil is easy
It is always easy to blame the devil, because he cannot answer for himself. Some people even abandon their wonderful food and sleep in a quest to ‘confront’ the devil in prayer and fasting over certain situations in life. The theology that has circulated among many people that all bad things are from the devil while all good things are from God. Superficially this may appear to be true but this does a great deal of violence to reality. Take this for an example, we all like to have money, its good, but imagine money that has been obtained through illegal means can it be attributed to God? The answer is comfortably in the negative. Take time to examine yourself and what you have done. You can never be able to change anything that you deny.
Take responsibility
You will never be able to grow, develop and change your life if you always want to blame someone including the devil for whatever that happens in your life. This is not to say that the devil does not have his proportion of responsibility. There are certain things that come from the devil. It is therefore necessary to have a discerning spirit you need to know the source of the battle that you are having. This is particularly critical in that it helps you know who to confront. Learn to take responsibility and move on with your life in light of the corrections. There are many people who pray a lot and even fast more than what Jesus Himself did and they are still in the same scenario. This is because the reality of the situation has not been confronted. You can invest your energy in blaming the devil or you can harness maturity and face your challenges. Do not deprive yourself of an opportunity to learn from your mistakes. “All blame is a waste of time. No matter how much fault you find with another, and regardless of how much you blame him, it will not change you.” [Wayne Dyer]. Take responsibility and take charge of your future.
Confront yourself
“You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of…” [Jim Rohn]. Many people have the boldness to confront other people, but few have the boldness to confront themselves. Be mature enough to look objectively at what it is happening in your life. Sometime it is not the devil it’s just you. Some parents complain about teenage delinquency, when they have entrusted the television to mentor their children, others complain about the poor performance of their children in class when they do not even know the colour of the exercise book of their children, and have surrendered totally the future of the child into the hands of the teacher. You complain that your marriage is not working when you are not doing anything about it. Confront yourself!
Tale of one married woman
A story is often told about a certain woman who was having marital problems. She encountered a certain pastor who was praying for people. When her turn for prayer came, she was so excited, and she quickly reached out for the photo of her husband she always travelled with. She then handed over the photos so that the Pastor would pray for the husband. The Man of God was quick to tell the woman that it was not the husband who needed to be prayed for, but the woman herself because she was the one who was disaster in the home and apparently she was reaping the consequences. She was however not seeing all this.
The moral of this story is that sometimes we do not need to look far for some of the things that we might be going through now. We need to look inside ourselves. A lot of people are complaining about the devil in their finances yet they do not have time to consider their spending decisions, vis-à-vis their earnings, their monthly obligations and so forth. Some complain about their increasing weight yet they eat like the body system has gone to sleep. Do not always look for the devil where he is not. Face the situation and deal with it.
Revisit your mental diet
“The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely to be the one who dropped it.”[Lou Holt]. There are certain problems that haunt people because of what they have allowed themselves to consume. Many teenagers have become fathers and mothers unexpectedly because of the type of entertainment they have consumed and failed to control themselves. Some people when they have access to the internet, the first thing they look for are pornographic material even during working hours. What in essence one is doing is creating a future problem, a possible addiction and possible motivation to venture in an activity whose consequences could be regrettable. Consider what you allow yourself to watch, what you allow yourself to read on all forms of media, the type of people you call friends and the value they are adding or taking away from you. Ask yourself an honest question, “Where am I going with this?”
Do not tempt the devil
“The price of greatness is responsibility.” [Winston Churchill] It is quite surprising that some people actually tempt the devil by the way that they lead their lives. They associate with the wrong people and at the end of the day they make themselves available and vulnerable to abuse by the devil.
This explains the reason why Jesus taught people to pray saying that, ‘lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one’. I want to challenge you this week to take stock of your life and try to come to terms with what is happening in your life. Evaluate the quality of decisions you have been making and you are making now. Where are they taking you?
Arthur Marara is an Attorney, Author and Speaker. He is also the author of the Personal Development Toolkit. Send your feedback to [email protected] or Whatsapp: +263 772 467 255 or visit www.arthurmarara.com
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