TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOURSELF

2 Corinthians 5:10

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

This verse is the ultimate in personal responsibility.  Alone and without excuse we will all stand before God to give an account for our lives.  The choices we have made, the friends we have chosen, the deeds we have committed and the words we have spoken will all be laid bare.  Christianity’s emphasis on confession, repentance and final judgment makes it perfect for helping us accept personal responsibility.   Christianity’s core doctrines help us see that no one else but us is responsible for the ATTITUDES we have fashioned, the ACTIONS we have favored, the AFFECTIONS we have fostered and the AFFILIATIONS we have formed.  When we accept personal responsibility for these areas, then we are empowered to change them.

Responsibility means that we “accept the ability to act on our own behalf.”  The word goes back to the 16th Century and was created to describe a person who is “legally answerable for his/her conduct or actions.”  This is something that too many people avoid.  They believe that by shifting blame to others and making excuses for themselves, they can put the responsibility of their life’s condition on someone or something else.  This, it seems, has been human nature form the beginning.  In Genesis 3:12-13, both Adam and Eve blamed others for the choices they made.  Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the serpent and the serpent didm’t have a leg to stand on!  LOL  

It seems that not wanting to take responsibility for our actions is an inherited trait!  

Satan is delighted when we blame others and make excuses for ourselves.  It locks us away in a prison of self-pity that keeps us from fulfilling our purpose and reaching our full potential.  For many people, living without personal responsibility becomes a safe and familiar place to hide; a place where the challenges of life are kept at bay by the excuses used to justify any lack of action.  It takes discipline and courage to break out of this prison and take responsibility for one’s life in order to make it better.  I encourage you to start the process today.  Repeat after me, “It’s on me!”  This needs to be the answer for everything in your life with which you are not satisfied.

Here are four areas where you can take personal responsibility and begin seeing your life for the better:

·      You must take responsibility for your attitudes.  IT’S ON ME!

·      You must take responsibility for your actions.  IT’S ON ME!

·      You must take responsibility for your affections.  IT’S ON ME!

·      You must take responsibility for your associations.  IT’S ON ME!