Responsibility

Proverbs 22:6 

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

         One thing I believe is lacking in America today is responsibility.  What teaches a child into becoming an independent and purposeful adult is responsibility.  We have a responsibility in our actions, speech and attitudes.  "The greatest day in your life and mine is when we take total responsibility for our attitudes. That's the day we truly grow up." [J. Maxwell]  Who do we work for and have responsibility due to?  Colossians 3:23  "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters."   "We need to realize that in all things our first duty and responsibility is to God Himself." [H. Ironside]  We need to need to yield specifically to the Lord, forsake every doubtful aspect in our life, be willing to obey fully to God's will, and believe through prayer that He will flood our spirit with His power.

        "The more personal responsibility we take, the more in control we are and the more control we have, the more likely we will reach our goal as there will be no excuses to fall back on if we fail. Therefore, taking responsibility for our actions equals success."

      As a child, I was taught Galatians 6:5  "for each one should carry their own load."  I was not let out of household chores, because of some weakness clause.  After school, I remember folding clothes while watching "The Brady Bunch" and walking as fast as I could during commercials to get them put away before the show resumed.  Along with the clothes, beds also had to be made before my parents got home from work. 

         Responsibility was also taught on the weekends.  I was the riding lawnmower driver.  I was paid $10 to mow our entire 2.5 acres and you could find me mowing in my bathing suit  top and shorts with my headphones on.  If I wasn't mowing, I was pulling a trailer with brush from the yard or moving dirt with the blade on the front of the riding lawnmower.

          I was also taught about my responsibility to my Lord and Savior.  That my life was to serve and be an example for Him.  Yes, I failed Him but His forgiveness was also something I shared with others.  " Everything begins with the right priorities, and right priorities begin with God." [W. Kroll]

          As I grew older, these lessons on responsibility paid off.  It was only I who would finish numerous after hour labs in college, whether it be chemistry or checking on my fruit flies in genetics.  When I changed colleges between 3 states, I knew no one was going to figure it out for me if I was going to finish with a degree somewhere.  God led me, but I had to do the work.

          My attitude towards responsibility has always been that it was mine to finish in whatever I signed up for.  I don't believe in or partake in the blame game.  I was raised to be a doer and not as an excuser.  "The providence of God does not relieve us of human responsibility: it doesn't call for inactivity, it calls for activity."  [Alistair Begg]