Responsibility

Responsibility is a trait we all must possess. In homes we often see chore charts, showing who is responsible for which chore, when you have pets, a family member is responsible for the well being of that pet.
If we are processing faith in Christ, if we have repented and accepted Christ into our hearts, the Holy Spirit is dwelling within you, meaning you have responsibilities that are unique to being a Christian.
When you are young, you are riding on the faith of your parents, but you still have responsibilities.  You have been gifted with parents that are just right for you.  God knew what parents would be the very best for you, you are responsible for listening to them, obeying them, and learning from them.  God gave them to you to help you grow in ways no other parents could, and that is a gift.  Just as parents, you have been gifted a ministry hand picked just for you by God in your children and spouses, you are responsible to remembering that ministry first.
As you grow older, so does your level of responsibility.  You start to ‘own your faith for yourself’ which means you are not just riding on your parents faith, but you begin to understand what it means to be a Christian. You are responsible for choosing to honor what you have been taught, and not watch movies that are not rated or approved according to your parents, because you are understanding how it can influence your thinking.
As young people you are responsible for walking the narrow path, that means you have to make decisions that are not always the cool or popular things.  For example, when your friends are talking about the opposite gender in ways that are less than honorable…..your are responsible to yourself, your friends, and that person to say this is not OK.
Parents, we also have responsibilities, not only to be raising our children up in the way of the Lord so then they are old they will not part from it, (which btw is not a promise, but a warning to how we are rearing children), to work at being a blessing to our spouse, AND to one another.  We are responsible to encourage one another, to support one another, be real, but also to hold one another to standards God has set for us, as Christians.  Being real means we are real, period. Not over sharing or putting your spouse down, but real in that we struggle.  Our children are not perfect, our homes are work, we can’t always have a happy face. When we are not real with one another, we leave an impression that we have it all together and leaves others grasping.  It is especially important in homeschooling circles, as homeschool parents, we put so much pressure on ourselves, unnecessary, but there, and when we pretend we have it all together, when we are afraid to admit we are struggling, not only with spelling or algebra, but with keeping up with life, with the feelings of depression or failure, we rob others of the truth that this is hard, but we can call on first God, and next those who are in the trenches with us.  Those who have been in the land of homeschooling for a while, you really do have a responsibility to the newer homeschoolers.  Think of the Titus 2 women.  This is true for parenting in general as well.
Often we do not want to say something to a sister or brother…because we need to treat them with love, but God is the ultimate example of love and He tells us in His word, He disciplines those He loves.  When we are seeing a sister or brother in Christ carrying on in a way that is in-Christ-like, we are responsible to that person to lovingly share what we are noticing. As uncomfortable as that might be, we need to be responsible, and need to love enough to talk to our family in Christ.

A quote I heard not long ago said, “A real friend loves enough to meddle”

Recently I was convicted about some complaining and negative talk I was allowing to go on and on, that afternoon I allowed it again!  Well, God reminded me what he had convicted me….and allowed me to lose a night of sleep.  I had to tell my Christ sister that I could not continue the discussion, as it was not of any benefit to anybody, and remind her, as God did to me the night before of the positive points.  It was not easy, but it was my responsibility.

Responsibility, is sometimes equated with accountability.

As a Christian we are responsible for our actions, words, taking all thought captive, and for holding each other accountable.  Not always easy, but always right