READ: Philippians 3:13-14
Most people hate group assignments. It’s scary for your grade to ride on the performance of others. When things go wrong, it’s easy to blame the kid who didn’t proofread or the other kid that used Comic Sans on the PowerPoint presentation. In a group setting, it’s easy to blame someone else. However, we often blame others even outside of group projects. Yours friend made you stay out late. They pressured you into drinking. Your teacher has a vendetta against you.
It’s so easy to blame everyone else for your problems, but there must come a time when you choose to take responsibility for your life. You need to own the outcome. Where are you placing blame in your life? Do you see any situations where you are blaming people or problems for how things turned out? Extinguish the excuses and press forward. When Paul was talking about the Christian life, he compared it to a race where we “forget the past and look forward to what lies ahead. Pressing on to reach the end of the race” (Phil 3:13). People may have failed you: press on. Circumstances may have paused your progress: press on.
Push past the excuses and choose to take ownership of the outcome.