How does a truly responsible person look like?

 I am glad to welcome you on the pages of „Daily Word for Spiritual Edification”!We are continuing to talk about the importance of being a responsible person in all the areas of life. We already established that being responsible has its rewards such as praise, power, authority, influence and promotion from God. Lack of responsibility causes shame, disgrace, the loss of authority, power and influence.I would like to show you a portrait of a responsible person. How does a truly responsible person look like?

1. Responsible person is not forgetful.

Responsible person does not need to be reminded the same things over and over again. It is enough to say it once for a responsible person to bear it in his mind.A responsible person records all important information, significant assignments or appointments. If nothing can be required of you because you keep forgetting things, it means you are irresponsible. There are people around us that say all the time, „Sorry, I forgot”. Such people usually are irresponsible and unreliable.

1. Responsible person keeps his word and his promises.

God is totally responsible, because He keeps His word and His promises. This quality of God has been the foundation of our faith in Him. We trust God because we know that He is faithful to His word.

«For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it» (Isaiah, 55: 10-11).

If you do not keep your word and do not keep your promises, then you are not reliable. If you are not reliable, you will not succeed as a person.

1. Responsible person does not blame others for his or her problems, but looks for his or her own faults and works to eliminate them.

If you only blame others for your problems, it means you refuse to acknowledge your own deficiencies. Of course, it is convenient to blame someone else, but it does not do any good. An irresponsible person justifies his wrongdoings and looks for someone to point the finger. If a family falls apart, husband cannot blame his wife, his children or anyone else, until he admits his own fault. Adam tried to live like it, but it did not help. God demanded an answer from Adam, not Even, even though Eve was the first that ate of the forbidden tree.

«So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that is was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, „Where are you?” So he said, „I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” And He said, „Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” Then the man said, „The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” And he LORD God said to the woman, „What is this you have done?” The woman said, „The serpent deceived me, and I ate” (Genesis, 3:6-13).

Why did God first talk to Adam, not to Eve? Adam as the head of the family was responsible for his family before God. Instead of acknowledging his irresponsibility before God, Adam pointed his finger to Eve who pointed her finger to the serpent. If we rephrase Adam’s word, then it would sound something like this, “God, this is not my fault; it is Eve’s fault. You gave her to me; do You seen now what she is like”.Eve said, „It is not my fault; the serpent deceived me”.I think that if God asked the serpent, it would have also said that it was not his fault, but it was the fault of Satan who had possessed him. But Satan would have said something like, „It is not my fault; ask God. He was the one who kicked me out of heaven”.See how convenient it is to blame someone else, instead of taking the responsibility.I think these three points will be enough for today to make you think and change something in your life. May God help us become the people of our word who can be trusted and do not shift the responsibility for their actions on others.Tomorrow we will continue to discuss the portrait of a responsible person.May God abundantly bless every one of you today!Pastor Rufus Ajiboye