On December 12, 2014 I attended a Ladies Night Out at my church, and that event has been such a blessing to my life. We had dinner, praised God, had fellowship, and talked about adversity being our friend. At the end of the evening we exchanged adversity boxes with someone else. I exchanged with a wonderful woman, and that night we chatted for an hour. We have so much in common. We both lost our Fathers in 2014, both are Christian women, and both want to make a difference in the lives of others.
Also at the end of this event we each received a cross with a word on it. The word I received was responsible. First of all let's take a look at the definition of responsible.
Responsible means "having an obligation to do something, or having control over or care for someone, as part of one's job or role." Wow we often think of jobs, family, paying bills, cleaning, and our actions being our responsibility. However with this definition it is our obligation to do things that we have control over. That means anything we have control over not just what our job title is, not just our family role, and not just what we feel we are responsible for.
With the definition I then wondered what the bible says about responsible. The verse finder had the following under the label responsibility.
*Responsible people admit their wrongs. It is often very hard to admit our wrong doings. I know I have struggled with this in the past because our pride wants us to be right. In 1 Chrolicles 21:8 David is admiting to God that he sinned and admitting his foolishness. Do we tell God how foolish we have been acting or just try to sweep it under the rug?
*Responsible people are faithful with what they have been given. God gave each of us a talent. Are we using our talent for God or pushing the talent to the side to satisfy man? In Matthew 25:14-30 it talks about the Parable of Talents. God gives us talents and want us to use those talents so He can continue to expand upon them. A talent isn't just ability to play a sport, play an instrument, sing, or be the best at everything. Maybe you are very good with children so your talent could be helping the youth. Maybe you are good at organizing and planning so you can help with vacation Bible school or general plans for events. Everyone has a talent we just have to put it to use.
*People are responsible for their decision about Christ. We all know how true this is. How many of us have prayed that a loved one would accept Jesus and receive Salvation? How many times have we wished we could accept Jesus for them. But at the end of the day the loved one is the only one who can accept Jesus into their heart and their life. I prayed for my dad to accept Jesus and thankfully he did a month prior to his passing. However that was my dad's responsibility not mine. I was so glad to know that he finally made the responsible choice.
*Responsible people know their abilities and limitations. Sometimes we like to think we are more able to do something than we are. This can be from your job to your daily schedule. I have learned that there are times I have to say no. I can't do everything and give everything and everyone 100% because the thinner we get spread the less people receive from us. How many parents have their children in school, sports of the season, church youth, and organizations. Then wonder why either the school grades or sports performance fails. They are stretched too thin, and everything can't be thriving. We have to realize our abilities and also recognize when we are reaching our limitations.
*People are responsible for their own actions. We often hear that everyone is responsible for their actions. Do we truly live by that? How often do we sin but blame it on someone else. Someone who drinks or does drugs will say society made them, they avoid being sober so they can avoid pain, or their friends pressured them. They are not being responsible for their actions. You may find yourself sinning and then try to justify it. You are not being responsible either.
After looking at all of this my word for 2015 is responsible. I need to be more responsible with my relationship with God, with my family, with the foods that I eat, with my finances, and with my life as a whole.
Do you choose a word for the year, if so what is it and why did you pick that word?
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