This might sound familiar
.A family in the Kingdom Hall is having some troubles with money. They are hardly making enough to feed the family and pay bills, because something has happened in their lives that is financially devastating. The congregation gets together and soon they provide the family with meals, extra work to make money and even a ride to the meetings to save on gas. Who is given credit for these actions? It was Jehovah's blessing of course!
Think about the above example and think of what it is a mirror reflection of below.
A man starts having problems in his marriage. He decides to respond to the advancements of a female workmate and soon he starts having extra martial sex. This troubles his conscience in time, and he goes to the elders and confesses his sins and ask for forgiveness from his wife and Jehovah. Who is given credit for these actions? It was the temptation of Satan and his world of course!
So I want to know
According to the Bible and Jehovahs Witnesses, are we to think that we are nothing more then puppets who get pulled by strings to do good and bad? Depending on the master, who is running the show at this moment in our lives?
Can humans actually do something good to another human and take credit for it? Can they actually say, "I am a good person and I wanted to help someone and God had nothing to do with it?"
Can a human being actually do something wrong and say, "I did this action, I wanted it and I knew it was wrong? There is no one to blame but me?"
It seems to me that is a big step to overcome in life, as an Ex-Jw or anything else. To actually admit that we have control over our own actions and we cannot go around pointing fingers at others for making us do something as if it is beyond our control. God did not make you a Witness. You did!* The Devil did not make you get Disfellowshiped, Disassociated, or inactive. You did!
Personal responsibility is so hard to come by in our day and age, and few people seem to want it. It is so much easier to just say "God made me do good, and Satan made me do bad." I think it is time to give credit to where credit is due and remember an old congregation illustration that went "when you point fingers, remember you have three more pointing back at you." So to me, to truly accept our place in this world and move forward. We must first accept the responsibility and control we have over it. If you want to truly change into the person you hope to be, you need to accept who is holding the reigns, and stop trying to pretend that they are in the hands of someone else.
"Give credit, good or bad, where it is due."
*Knowing this might cause people to say, "my parents made me do it." I would like to point out that children are prone to please. This is the innocents of youth! Often we grow up and learn that we made many mistakes as childern, and even as adults. This could be due to lack of proper knowledge and information or child-like insecurities to please. In all though, we made the decision to join the religion based on the information we had at the time.
Edited by - whyhideit on 3 January 2003 3:33:46