I recently read a cartoon that was divided into a then and now picture. Under “Then” a mother is doctoring her son’s bruised elbows and knees and commenting to him “I guess we’ve learned to be more careful when climbing trees!” In the “Now” picture the mother is doctoring her son’s bruised elbows and knees and complains “We need to pass legislation requiring safer trees!”

It’s been a common and unfortunate trend of recent years. Rather than taking responsibility for our thoughts and actions we blame something else for our sufferings. Fast-food restaurants are often blamed for obesity as if consumers were forced to eat their fare. People commit crimes and reply “I couldn’t help it” citing abuse in their past.

Compassion and understanding are needed to help society deal with its ills. Goodness knows we all need help in improving our models and learning better behavior. But absolving responsibility for thoughts and actions is not a good place to start.

It’s healthy to take responsibility for our mental household. It puts us in a position of dominion and authority to know our mental precincts. We can take command of evil impulses and prevent them from affecting us before there is an outward consequence.

God made us intelligent beings. A consciousness of our God-given ability to think clearly and act wisely gives us the discernment we need to avoid evil in the first place or to quickly work out of trouble when it seems to take over.

We’re not helpless. God is an ever-present help. We don’t have to live out the role of a victim. We can take responsibility for our thoughts today and side with the good thoughts, the spiritual thoughts, and lead a predictably progressive life.