Deadly mindset #3 is a close cousin to the deadly mindset of blaming. I’m calling this mindset re-naming, but a more familiar word is rationalization. When we rationalize our behaviors, we acknowledge that we did them but then justify our actions with a reason or excuse. “I was stressed out,” or “I had a really bad day at work,” or “It’s my job to take clients out to eat wherever they want to go.”
Re-naming can also be a strategy we use to try to spin the truth: “I did not have sex with that woman” is a classic example of re-naming.
If I re-name sex in my mind to mean intercourse only, then I can tell the world that I didn’t have sex, when in reality I may have had oral sex or cybersex or some other sexual experience with or without another person.
This mindset is deadly to recovery because it excuses sinful choices instead of repenting from them. God already knows the truth. He just wants us to be honest – without offering excuses.
– Troy Haas, First Steps