"God: The most popular scapegoat for our sins." —Mark Twain

"God: The most popular scapegoat for our sins." —Mark Twain

I have been struggling lately with society as a whole and particularly those who mistreat others and then use the Bible and Christianity as a scapegoat for their actions. 

Let me begin by confessing that over the years I have personally engaged in sinful and sometimes hypocritical behavior.  I have come to a place where as much as possible I try to step away from making excuses when I stumble and acknowledge both to God and those I have wronged that I am just that...wrong and that I am sorry. 

As a parent one of the thing I drill into my children is personal accountability.  When you hurt another person or treat them badly, intentionally or unintentionally, if all you do is give a million excuses (no matter how real those excuses are) when working towards restoring a relationship, it does not take the place of a sincere apology. 

I feel like sometimes, Christians especially use God’s grace and forgiveness as an excuse to mistreat others.  While it is true no human is ever and will ever be prefect, and that God will forgive us for anything, His grace is never an excuse or a license to treat others shamefully and then feel you can claim “imperfection” and still not have to go to that person to do your part to reconcile the relationship. 

I recently read a blog by Jeremy Myers and he stated it perfectly when she says, “…other versions of this excuse, such as “Hey! Nobody’s perfect!” or “I’m not perfect; just forgiven.”
The idea behind this excuse is that the watching world has put unrealistic expectations on us as Christians. We complain that they seem to think we should live perfect lives, which is impossible. So when we sin, and our sin is pointed out to us, we excuse our actions by reminding others that we are sinners too.
Theologically, this is correct.
But such a statement should never be used to excuse our sin. When our sin is pointed out to us, either by a Christian or a non-Christian, the proper response is not “Hey, I’m a sinner too, so get off my back about my behavior” but rather should be, “You know what? You are correct. I messed up. I am sorry. Thanks for pointing that out. With God’s help, I will do better next time.”
The part of this I struggle with the most is not forgiving other people, but when to draw the line and remove myself from the relationship when it is hurtful.  Thankful I have always been pretty quick to forgive others.  But in being quick to forgive others I feel like I sometimes find myself in relationships with people, who continually mistreat me, never try to change how they treat me, make a million excuses but never apologize or take any responsibility for their behavior. 
I have sought many passages in the Bible, and spent countless hours in prayer for these relationships and answers on how to proceed with those relationships.   At what point has someone tried enough to live peaceable with others?  Today I came across a devotional By Rick Warren on just this subject that may just give me insight into my question. 
http://purposedriven.com/blogs/dailyhope/live-at-peace--as-far-as-it-depends-on-you/
I guess it is time to sit again at God’s feet, give him the burden of these relationships, come to a place to full forgiveness and place the outcome of these relationships in His lap!