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YOUR OWN INIQUITIES“His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.” — Proverbs 5:22 (KJV)One of the most sobering words in this verse is the word “own.”Many people blame others for their troubles. They blame parents, spouses, friends, society, the government, their church, or their circumstances. While others may influence us, Solomon points to a different reality. He says that a man is often taken by his own iniquities. The drunkard is trapped by his own bottle. The liar is trapped by his own deception. The bitter person is trapped by his own resentment. The proud man is trapped by his own arrogance. The immoral person is trapped by his own lust.Sin always advertises freedom, pleasure, and control. Yet sin never remains a servant. Eventually it becomes a master. What begins as a choice becomes a chain. What begins as a pleasure becomes a prison.Notice that God does not say the wicked man is held with the cords of someone else's sins. He is held with “the cords of his sins.” The very thing he embraced eventually embraces him. The very thing he justified eventually binds him.This is why repentance is so important. Sin is not merely breaking God's law; it is building your own prison one cord at a time.The good news is that Jesus Christ came to set captives free. The sinner who turns to Christ can find forgiveness, cleansing, and deliverance from the bondage of sin.Before you blame another person for where you are, ask yourself a harder question:What cords have I allowed into my own life?Because according to Proverbs 5:22, the greatest danger is not always what others do to us—sometimes it is what our own iniquities do to us.