RESPONSIBLE ME



We all know what it is to turn over a new leaf; we’ve each done it a thousand times. The fact is, we need more than just a new leaf. We need to take responsibility for our lives. It begins with coming to grips with who you are and what you do. It begins with, “God, I am a sinner. I hurt people close to me. I do things that are wrong. There are times when I only care about me. I give no thought to the wants and needs of anyone else — it’s just all about me.”

Every person who follows Christ has made this admission – and we have each received absolute, total and complete forgiveness. Not because we deserve it, but because God is loving and merciful and forgiving. He wants to forgive your sins, and he wants to help you get over them. He wants to help you get past them, to abandon them, to become a better person, to become more like his Son, Jesus. In order for this to happen, you’ve got to take responsibility for who you are and where you are in life. "Take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." (2 Corinthians 10:5)

Frankly, this goes against our nature; it’s so much easier to place blame. For example: “I have an explosive temper because my father used to yell at me, and my life today is so stressful, and besides, I’m surrounded by idiots. So wouldn’t you be angry, too?”

When you hear yourself saying this sort of thing, you need to realize that it indicates that you’re not taking responsibility for your life. Instead, you’re placing blame. As long as you’re blaming others, you will continue to make excuses for your own behavior and your own situation, and you will continue to avoid taking responsibility for what’s going on in your personal life. The result is that your life never gets better, your situation never gets better, and you never get better.

Taking responsibility for your life means that you abandon forever the shelters of placing blame and making excuses. Taking responsibility means saying, "I'm in control of what I think, what I say and what I do – I will use each of these for the glory of God and for the benefit of others. I will not wait until someone does it for me, I will not wait for a moment of luck to save the day, and I will not complain that it's not as easy as I would like for it to be. Instead, I will control my thoughts and my words and my actions. I will take responsibility for my life by learning what I need to learn, preparing as I need to prepare, and doing what I need to do, without waiting to be compelled."

Each of us has dropped the ball at some time or another in life. And, to be sure, there have been times when someone came along and knocked the ball out of our hands. The question is: Will we spend our time complaining about the ball being on the ground, or will we pick it back up and start running with it? Take responsibility for your life. Take action today.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The 80-20 Rule

In 1906, Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto created a mathematical formula to describe the unequal distribution of wealth in his country, observing that twenty percent of the people owned eighty percent of the wealth. The Pareto Principle, or 80/20 rule, states that 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.   Although this rule was first applied in Italy when Pareto was looking at the dispersal of wealth, it has since become a rule of thumb for many businesses.   It has been said that 20% of your workforce does 80% of the work, or 80% of your sales come from 20% of your clients.   I think this law comes into play in our lives as well.   Life is 20% what happens to you and 80% what you make of it. There are tons of stories about people who come out of difficult situations — gang life, in and out of jail, drug addiction, broken families, abuse – yet still seem to rise to the top.   And of course, there are many stories of those who have been given everything they would n
Read more

FREEDOM’S PRICE

In 1781, the Fourth of July was named a national holiday and today fireworks, parades and picnics still mark this celebration. Because on July 4, 1776 The Declaration of Independence proclaimed the thirteen colonies free from British rule. What proceeded and followed this declaration were the historic battles still taught in every elementary school. For six years the colonies shook with the Battles of Concord and Lexington, Bunker Hill and Saratoga. The war finally ended at Valley Forge where British General Cornwallis surrendered to what would be the United States’ first president, George Washington. Two years later the British and the Americans signed a peace treaty in France. Freedom does not come without a price. Through the Revolutionary War our nation’s freedom was paid for by the blood and sacrifice of the men and women who fought for their dream of what would become the United States. The battles were not easy, and the years took their toll on our young nation. In t
Read more

Mask Off

Have you ever noticed how many of the superheroes put on masks when it’s time to do their “superhero jobs”? Batman and Robin, Spiderman, the Green Lantern, Captain America and Wonder Dog all wear the mask to fight against evil. There they are, with their colored masks hiding their true identity. My personal favorite is Superman. When he’s fighting back evil, it is full disclosure time. He is being who he truly is, when he takes OFF his mask — those oversized black-framed glasses. When he’s doing what he was made to do, doing it fully revealed, he’s more himself than at any other time. In today’s world, there is a crying-out by the public at large for genuineness. We’ve been disappointed over and over by those who, after it’s too late, aren’t who they said they were. If we’re honest, maybe it’s true in our own relationships with other believers. If we’re even more honest, maybe we’ve been the cause of someone else’s disappointment. And perhaps that disappointment was
Read more