We Are Responsible

By, Glenn Rosenbaum

“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us!” (1 John 1:8) 

As the team and I come closer to the end of the week during our Men’s Legacy Program in Junction Texas, I am reminded of this truth in 1 John 1:8 being so relevant in the stories of the men here with us.  One word in the middle of that verse hangs in my thoughts as I consider all that I am observing and hearing this week: Deceive.  

If I were to define or describe the word “deceive” in my own words, I would say the word by itself means something along the lines of this: to cause someone to stray, or maybe to lead someone to stray, or possibly even better said, to lead someone off of the right path.  These men this week have so many things in common but this one truth is undeniable. They have all been deceived. They all have been led off the right path. So much so, that their idea of what is right has been so distorted that for many of them they are in a deep state of confusion as to what really is the Truth.

But even now as I write this, I am reminded that there is also another common theme that is going on in the lives of each of these men: personal responsibility. For these men, true personal responsibility is being uncovered and the truth of that verse in 1 John 1 is being exposed.  Look closely at the words on either side of that word, deceive. “We” and “ourselves.”  “We deceive ourselves.”  In life, we often do the enemy’s job for them and deceive ourselves. The good news I want to share with you is that these men are not acting unruly to this revelation of this personal responsibility or denying their culpability. But rather, and for many of them for the first time, these men are accepting their personal responsibility for their actions and are making decisions to start doing what is right under the correct authority: God! These Warriors are aligning their lives to God’s standards and changing the course of their marriages, families, and legacies.