TAKING RESPONSIBILITY
We all find ourselves in various places and conditions, and there is the tendency to always look out for someone to blame for whatever the predicaments that befalls us. Only few of us, if any at all, will accept we are where we are by our own making. Naturally, we all have an unwillingness to take responsibility. For instance, if you are broke, you don’t want to accept that you re broke. You don’t want to accept you made yourself so. Likely, you want to blame someone else for it. Somebody once failed an exam. I asked how it was. He said “they said I failed.” I asked him, did they say you failed or you did fail? He said “they said.” This is a show of denial of taking the responsibility of failure. Until you take responsibility for the outcome, you are not ready to make progress.
We blame everything that goes wrong on someone else. It is important to know God did not make you a creature that is subject to the whims and caprices of another person. You must come to a point in which you know your life is in your hands. You must accept therefore, where you find yourself is a product of your own decisions and actions; and if you want to guess who is responsible, look at the mirror, whoever you find is responsible. There are four actors in each of our lives:
- You
- Satan
- God
- Other People
These four actors are the personalities capable of having influence over our lives and can determine the things that happen to us. But among these four, you determine the ultimate winner. By your choices, you determine who makes the difference in your life. The winner whom you determine could be God, Satan or other people. It is all left to you to make the choice. When God created us, He made us creatures of choice. You chose what you want.
Deu 30:19 I call Heaven and earth to record today against you. I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life, so that both you and your seed may live,
He is a God of options according to the scriptures. In other words, it is all down to your choice. It is what you want. You get what you choose. He didn’t make the choice of one person to determine another’s destiny. No, unless you chose to allow it! Get this, you might not be able to determine what happens to you, but you can determine what you do with what happens to you.
Life is an opportunity, and every opportunity carries a burden of responsibility. Every opportunity you have in life has inevitable responsibility attached to it! Your choices made, and the opportunities that come around carry responsibilities. My emphasis here is to teach you to take responsibility for the actions of tomorrow, actions in your family, children and life. This will guide and direct your thinking in the light of Jesus’ thought.
The natural way is to blame people. We are fond of trading blames with our spouse, the government, police, the nation, the church, etc. Instead of pointing the finger at someone else, point it at yourself; it is tough to do so, but it is necessary.
I like to show you the mother of all blamers. It is in Genesis 3:9-20.
9 And Jehovah God called to Adam and said to him, Where are you?
10 And he said, I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I am naked, and I hid myself.
11 And He said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree which I commanded you that you should not eat?
12 And the man said, The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.
13 And Jehovah God said to the woman, What is this you have done? And the woman said, The serpent deceived me, and I ate.
14 And Jehovah God said to the serpent, Because you have done this you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every animal of the field. You shall go upon your belly, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He will bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.
16 To the woman He said, I will greatly increase your sorrow and your conception. In pain you shall bear sons, and your desire shall be toward your husband, and he shall rule over you.
17 And to Adam He said, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree, of which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it! The ground is cursed for your sake. In pain shall you eat of it all the days of your life.
18 It shall also bring forth thorns and thistles to you, and you shall eat the herb of the field.
19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.
20 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.
Did you notice the blame trade? This did not exonerate them. Blaming other people, witches and wizards, does not solve your problem. Blaming the government, your boss, parents or family is not the issue. Every solution begins with taking responsibility for where you find yourself. Some people excuse themselves on the basis of their nature or personality trait. If the way you are is not working and you sure need a change; you must first acknowledge you are the prophet of your own life, and therefore, you are responsible. Ultimately, you should know and accept it!
WHAT ARE YOU RESPONSIBLE FOR?
There are some things the bible explicitly states you are responsible for:
- You are responsible for who you serve or worship.
The best anybody can do as much as I do is to encourage or counsel you to serve the Lord, but the choice is yours. God expects you to take responsibility for who you serve. Joshua told the Israelites, the choice of worship is their responsibility.
Jos 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
2. You are responsible for how you make money; how you manage money, and how you multiply money.
How do you make money? How do you use money? How do you manage money? And how do you multiply money? All these questions are your choice and amounts to your responsibility. Peter emphasized this when he questioned Ananias and his wife Sapphira about the proceeds from their property sold.
Act 5:3-4 But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart for you to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land? While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own authority? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God.
I have discovered when you learn the way you should manage money, then your money will increase. This is a secret I have discovered in the scriptures, if you are faithful with your tithe, God will multiply you. Many people do not know that the secret of proper responsibility is to take away some of their earnings and be liberal with it. Many are yet to learn the principle of sowing and reaping. It is important to learn to manage what He gives you in accordance with the teachings of the Holy Scriptures, then He will see to it that you never lack.
Psa 37:25 I have been young and now am old, yet have I not seen the [uncompromisingly] righteous forsaken or their seed begging bread. (Amplified).
Honour the Lord with your substance because it is He that gives you the power to get wealth, then you will know how to manage the remaining – Deuteronomy 8:18. Little is much if God is in it!
3. You are responsible for who you marry.
Adam said the woman whom you gave me. Now, you cannot say that. For Adam, there was only one woman at that time, Eve. Now, there are many. So, if you choose to marry anybody, it is your responsibility. Take it! The bible said in Proverb 18:22,
“Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD.”
You choose and that is what you got. Nobody forced you and even if they did you eventually agreed. The bible never said whosoever finds a good wife; so, your spouse is a good thing. Amen.
4. You are responsible for your choice of what you fear and worry about.
It is not everything people say that you should think or worry about. To worry is an act of your choice then you should take responsibility for worrying. Do not allow things that are irrelevant to worry you.
Phi 4:6-8 “Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”
5. You are responsible for your sins and iniquity.
The sins you commit is your choice. Sin is not an accident; it is a choice. It is an act of your will.
Rom 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
God spoke to the Israelites through Moses in Numbers 32:23,
“But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against Jehovah. And be sure your sin will find you out.”
Let me tell you, if you commit a sin in secret that should not stop you from confessing it to the Lord, because it has the tendency to find you out. It will show forth. It will manifest itself.
6. You are responsible for your spiritual strength.
How strong you are is your responsibility. If you are weak you chose it. God will not make you strong! The bible declared in Ephesians 6:10,
“Finally, my brothers, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.”
It is your responsibility to be strong. Some people claim they are weak; well, that is your responsibility. You should take responsibility for being weak spiritually. When you continue to have evil dreams, it is because you are not spiritually hot. When demons continue to pursue you around in your dreams, it is because you are weak. The bible said we can covet spiritual gifts (spiritual strength inclusive). We can covet fresh grace and strength. Spiritual strength is your responsibility.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?
- Cast your care not your responsibility on the Lord. To feed your family is your responsibility. 1Tim 5:8 But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially his family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an infidel.
- Repent. God always ask for repentance. The gospel begins with repentance. When you come to Jesus, you must see life other than the world sees it. You begin to see life through the eyes of God. Repentance is a change of mind. It is taking a different direction for good.
- Ask God to show you the truth about yourself. Sometimes, knowing the truth about you can be difficult. If you have an unpalatable situation, ask God what am I contributing to it? By so doing, you know the truth about yourself.
- Take your life in your hand. This implies to make a concrete decision to change or to do something about your condition. When David was facing Goliath, he put his life in his hand, 1 Sam 19:5 For he did put his life in his hand, and slew the Philistine, and the LORD wrought a great salvation for all Israel. To do this, pray, read the bible more and seek counsel.
- Impose ruthlessness on attitude and actions that are not Christ-like. Consciously deal with weak attitude in you to necessitate change. These weaknesses may be character failure, stubbornness, contention, dissension, etc. Mark 9:43a And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
Conclusion
Your thinking must be in line with God’s word for you to have a resurrection. Jesus Christ could have put the blame of His predicaments on Judas Iscariot who betrayed Him, Peter who denied Him or His parents who did not understand His ministry early. No! He gave God thanks in the midst of it all, knowing fully well God will not leave his soul in hell. God will not leave you in the condition He met you. A person that will have tomorrow must believe in the God that owns tomorrow.
Psalm 16:10 For You will not leave My soul in hell; You will not allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Every solution begins with taking responsibility for where you find yourself.
Prayer
Lord, I take responsibility for the situation I find myself, I rejoice in it because I know there is a new day coming. Help me through it so I can come out strong in Jesus name. Amen.
