One of the signs of a mature person is the ability to take responsibility for their life. They own their emotions, the direction of their life, and even their problems. In fact this is such a BIG part of winning in every area of life that I believe your greatest ability is responsibility. We are losing this sense of responsibility in our society. It’s always someone else’s fault. It’s my parents’ faults, the government’s, my spouse’s, my boss…you name it. When we fail to take responsibility we take on a victim mindset…I have no choice in what happens to me or the direction of my life.
No matter what happens in life you don’t have to be a victim. Being responsible means you are RESPONSE-ABLE…you are able to respond to whatever happens to you. You always have a choice. You always have a say in the quality and direction of your life. Victims respond to the negative of life by asking “Why me?” Victors know they are response-able and instead ask “What can I do to make this better?”
I understand that truly bad things happen in life…things you didn’t ask for and things you don’t deserve. I also understand that how you respond to those bad things will make the situation better or worse. You always have a choice and your future depends upon which mindset you’ll take. Always chose the victor mindset.
Responsibility means you are where you are…broke…overweight…divorced…addicted…lonely…because of the choices you’ve made. The past was in your hands (I know that sounds a bit harsh), but the good news is that the future is in your hands too. Your future can look dramatically different than your past or present when you take responsibility for your life. It’s painful to realize no one else will rescue you or fix things except you, but now you are on the path to a better future because you stop waiting to be rescued (victim) and start working on the issues (victor).
Sure others may have been given a better head start than you, but that doesn’t let you off the hook for being responsible for your own life. Sure you could have had better parents…sure you could have had better opportunities. But you are still responsible for where you are and where you are headed.
There is a guy in the Bible who didn’t believe this. He didn’t believe he was responsible for what he had been entrusted with and had a painful awakening to the truth. You can read the story in Matthew 25:14-30. It’s a story Jesus tells with a rather shocking ending. A rough summary of the story is that a master or a business owner went on a long trip and before he left he gave 3 of his servants/employees each a large sum of money to invest and create a return. Each was given a different amount. One guy was given 5 bags of silver, another was given 2 bags, and the last was given 1 bag. When the owner returns he holds them equally responsible for what was entrusted to them. The guy who was given the least does the least with it and is called “wicked and lazy” which is pretty shocking considering he didn’t embezzle or lose a single cent. This last employee makes all kinds of excuses as to why it wasn’t his fault…he was a victim. Despite his excuses…He was held equally responsible even though he wasn’t entrusted with equal resources or opportunities. Jesus is saying even if you have less you will still be held equally responsible for what you did with it as those who have more. Responsibility is a serious thing and it follows us beyond the grave.
So in what area of your life have you been assuming the victim mentality? It’s time to take responsibility because when you do things get better and your future will look dramatically different.
