Defending Yourself

I think if we were to put bets on who would win an argument I'm pretty sure everyone's money would be on God!

Job 40:1-24

Reference: v.8 "Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself?" (TNIV Bible)

Explore:  Usually when something goes wrong someone gets the blame.  The challenge when you are involved is to defend yourself as best as possible so that your head is not on the chopping block.  When someone feels like they are going to cop the blame for a mistake then all their defenses arise.  They will try to justify their position to make it sound like they did everything they could to stop the mistake from happening.  The problem when we justify our own actions is that we often make someone else cop the blame.  By justifying ourselves we often put someone else's head on the chopping block.

Application:  When Job was defending his life to his friends he ended up questioning God's justice in the process.  And so now God responds to Job asking whether he would discredit Him in order to justify himself.  Surely that would be a fairly nervous position to be in.  I think if we were to put bets on who would win an argument I'm pretty sure everyone's money would be on God!  But whether you are justifying yourself before God or before another it is important to understand the implications of defending yourself may be.  By elevating yourself you may actually be pushing someone else down.

Prayer:  Lord, we know that we are all created equally but there are times when we try to elevate ourselves above others.  May we come to understand true humility when we are face-to-face with You.  Amen.

How do you try to justify yourself before God?

Job