For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Romans 14:17 (NLT)
Have you ever heard the saying, “the devil made me do it”? He’s not powerful enough to control our choices, but it reveals our heart when we start playing the blame game.
Christians often blame the devil and then God. Satan for causing all the stuff that’s making us unhappy, and God for allowing it all to happen. But when nobody takes ownership, we take on the helpless role. The blame game ultimately says, “I’ve decided my situation will never change because I’m the victim.”
When we get caught up in judging and blaming everybody else, we have something in common with legalistic religion. Religion’s focus is on the external, but that’s not where the kingdom is.
Today’s verse reminds us that God’s kingdom is not a matter of the external:”what we eat or drink.” It’s within us as believers. When we change our focus to the internal—to sowing God’s Word into our hearts and establishing our hearts in grace—we begin to harvest goodness, peace and joy. You see, we get to harvest what we plant in our lives.
We can choose to take God’s Word and plant it. We can allow it to transform our mind and live by it, or we can ignore it. Our free will means we hold the power to change how we’re handling life.
Don’t accept the victim role or play the blame game; neither will take you anywhere. Instead, take God’s Word and focus on growing the amazing kingdom that’s alive and at work inside of you!