It Wasn’t Me… Take Ownership

As always, I reviewed the rules and expectations with my students on the first day of school. A key was repeated in multiple areas "take ownership of your actions."

A popular song by Shaggy, "It Wasn’t Me", has become the jingle for several commercials. The person is caught red-handed and says, “It wasn’t me.” Students see and hear this every day. It’s no wonder they don't think they're responsible. Just say it wasn’t me, don’t say excuse me, ask for forgiveness, and ignore you did something wrong. Parents have told me that since their children said they didn’t do anything, it didn’t matter that I witnessed the event.

All this works fine until someone does something to them. Others should be held responsible, but not me.

Recently, I was honored to present the solo in my choir, “Amazing Grace shall always be my song of praise. For it was Grace that bought my liberty. How marvelous the Grace that caught my falling soul. He looked beyond my faults and saw my need.” Thank God, He is not us. We focus on the faults of others. We must learn to overlook and try to understand what the underlying reasons are that cause us (everyone) to make mistakes. God sees our mistakes. He sees everything, but He forgives when and if we ask. We see the mistakes of others and jump to condemn, point fingers, and lay blame. We should be patient, forgiving, and understanding.

If I stepped on your toes, know that mine are bruised, scuffed, swollen, and bloody. We’re human. This is not an excuse. No excuses allowed. It is a reason behind our actions. It’s our nature. If we have been saved, we take off our old nature and put on the new nature of Christ (Eph 4:20-24),

The keynote speaker at our back-to-school conference was Thomas Murray. He challenged us to find the why behind the behavior of our students. Don’t jump to conclusions, be quick to judge. Find their reasons, their why, for being here. Once we understand their why, we can help them make better choices. When we help meet their needs, we can help them be successful.

Our society is pushing us out, pushing God out. We have to keep pushing God back in. Back into our lives, our communities, our schools.

Hide my light under a bushel, NO! Let your light shine.