The Blameless Win Every Time!

“Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord!” -Psalm 119:1

My family, friends, and colleagues know this is another favorite word of mine, “Blameless.” I live my life as much as possible this way. This life is achievable. It is very possible to live a blameless life. The book of Psalm is all about proving this right.

The question is how do I achieve this? The answer is simple. Abide in God. “Trust in the LORD and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper," (Psalm 37:3). Here’s the truth. You will be attacked every time by jealous, envious, and insecure people just because you have great character. It’s always because your doing good. You are a stumbling block in the right way.

Jealous people are out on the prowl. Looking and lurking to just find one thing, that one thing to tear you and bring you down. It doesn’t matter what you say or do. They got to find something to get you to react. Lies are their great weapon. This is because they think you will fight back. It’s a defense mechanism; they think they got you. Once they get you to defend yourself, you're in the mud with them. Please don’t do that. Let them talk. Talk is cheap. Your greatest blessing, even if you can’t see it at the moment, is WHO is LISTENING! That’s right. I never blame the liar. They can’t help being who they are. But, the listener? They love gossip and love to tear down. It is always because of jealousy. In the faith, it is disguised as, “How can they say they are godly and say and do such and such?” Sounds innocent right? It’s sinful as it could get. Causing division, accusing, judging, and condemning are not attributes of children of God, never minding that they only hear one side of the story.

People will lie, make up stories, accuse you, and say all sorts of evil against you. As we see in the story of many great men and women, especially in God’s Word, our character and integrity is at stake when this happens. You know how? If we respond in kind, we are just like them. It’s hurtful and mean spirited. However, the offense is really not against you. It’s against God. You were created in His image, and if you are living blameless before Him, guess what will take place next? God always defends the righteous. Judgment is in His hands only, not ours. It might seem like the liar is winning and has the upper hand but it’s a terrible illusion. If you continue reading, it says, “Don't worry about the wicked or envy those who do wrong,” (Psalm 37:2).

We are humans and made of flesh and blood. So, when we are attacked for doing nothing wrong, we get mad. We worry about our reputation. It’s normal behavior, absolutely normal, but, it’s how we choose to respond that determines the outcome. Sometimes, we have to not respond at all and let the lies be told. It’s hard, trust me, I understand. Let me share one lie (amongst the many) that has been told about me. I was attending a church for a short while during the worst time of my life. I didn’t attend food functions. The whole world knows I have severe food allergies, a nightmare when I travel abroad. I have to ship my food over. I received a call from the church secretary accusing me of not eating because I didn’t want to break bread with them. Can you believe a pastor’s secretary would make such a call? I was speechless. I was out running when I received that call. I called my friend, crying all the way back repeating what just took place.

I said to her, "if a meeting just took place with leadership of the church, accusing me of purposely not eating, and taking it further by accusing me of telling my children not to partake, what else is being said about me?” Can you imagine an actual meeting talking about me not eating and why was I not eating would even be allowed at a pastor’s meeting?

Everybody who ever meet me knows I can’t eat. It’s not just about preparing my food differently. It’s about completely cleaning any surface, utensils, and cookware that my food would be in contact with. I have no idea if the same utensils that were prepared to cook the lasagna also came in contact with the allergen. It’s so much stress for me. I don’t expect uneducated people to understand this. They didn’t have to be rushed to the emergency room as I almost died for eating something my body couldn’t handle. Yet, even though the church all knew about this medical condition they found fault with me because I wouldn’t eat and accused me of evil purposes for not my eating. Ellianna eats everywhere we go. Justin is a challenge. He is an extremely picky child. Everyday we prepare a different meal for Justin. He eats bland. I try so hard to introduce foods, and he sits there and will not eat it. I never told my son not to eat at church functions. But, you see the stupidity of all this? It wasn’t about the food. It was because they needed things to hate me for. God only knows what other lies were brought up against me.

For those who are wise, you understand my point clearly. If you are not liked because of jealous spirit. There’s nothing you can do. I could have called the pastor and his wife and brought in my medical file for proof. It would have been easy for me to have done. I could have had my doctor call them, ask all my family, friends, and the rest of the world write letters how I don’t eat at their homes. But that was not the answer. He and his wife choose to believe the lies and further discussed it at a pastor’s meeting. Really? Ungodly behavior was in action, not the character of a true shepherd.

Please understand the passage above. You are blessed of God when you choose to walk in godly character. Then you shall be blameless, and do not hate! You can feel hurt, it’s an emotion that brings on sadness and anger. Both are destructive. Rather, thank God, He showed you what’s going on in the minds of the liars and the listeners. Then, walk way. You owe no one any explanation, and you don’t have to defend yourself to such people. Looking for approval and acceptance from such people is a huge mistake. Walk away, and don’t even talk about them with others. I have a way to get around all of this that keeps me clean and blameless before God and man. I find one thing the person has done that was good and I choose to talk about one thing they did good instead of their evil. There is healing power in what I just said. You are breaking the yoke of hate, revenge, and malice when you practice gratefulness for the things your enemies have done to bless you. You end up with joy, gladness, a pure heart that then speaks good of the people who are lying about you. Who’s the winner? It’s a no brainer; YOU are for keeping yourself holy and blameless.

I’m sharing with you because if you can concentrate on the good the person did, it keeps you from sinning. Eagles don’t fly with crows. Eagles eat salmon while crows eat road kill. You get my point? Fly like an eagle and keep your eyes on what’s best. Unlike the crows. They wait for the mangled and splattered animals on the ground that has been there for days. In other words, they go after the gross things. Eagles are way up in the sky and not involved with the dead things of the ground. When they are hungry, they go for the fresh things not the dead.

Be blameless in all you do! Let God defend you, take the high road less traveled. Believe me no one gets away with anything. God is watching and He repays good with good and evil with evil. “Blessed are those who walk in His ways and His laws.”

Dr. Teresa Allissa Citro

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