Taking Responsibility vs. Blaming Others
Taking responsibility allows you to choose joy and hope.
It doesn’t mean that others shouldn’t have consequences for wrongful actions, but it means you get to live out the truth of the gospel by extending the same forgiveness to others that God has extended towards you.
Taking responsibility for oneself is what I would consider basic humanity. And yet, it is one of the biggest things we lack. It has become easier and more common to blame other people for everything in our lives.
The biggest thing for which we can take responsibility is our hearts, especially in our relationships.
This ultimately determines how you respond to difficult situations and disagreements. Jesus’s posture towards humans was based on kindness, forgiveness, and a tender heart. This was His stance even with people who disagreed with Him. Even as humans tried to kill Him, Jesus maintained this stance.
Taking responsibility for your actions encompasses responsibility for the hurt you cause, work you may have missed, your general actions towards others, as well as your mood and opinions. And this needs to be instilled from childhood.
Society often dismisses lack of responsibility as “just hormones” in teenagers, which is a huge disservice to those children and humanity at large. It shifts the responsibility to something else. When our teenagers know that their hormones aren't responsible for their actions, they learn to get a better handle on their emotions.
When we feel hurt, we often look for someone to blame. While there are instances where someone is to blame for that hurt, we’re responsible for how we feel about it going forward.
Choosing joy and hope doesn’t mean that the person who wronged you shouldn’t suffer the consequences of their actions. It means choosing a different way to live, despite the hurt they’ve caused.
You don’t live in the bondage of blame and hate. This means taking responsibility for your own soul, anger, and frustration. We sin against God multiple times, and He still forgives us.
Because we have been forgiven so much, we can forgive others too.
Taking responsibility for our emotions and actions can enhance our relationships. Some conflicts or disagreements are bound to come up in personal relationships. But how you each respond to those can determine whether or not that relationship succeeds.
Living free and joyfully does not mean you haven't been offended or wronged. Rather, it's because you relish God’s forgiveness so much that you refuse to be stuck in the bondage of hate. This freedom brings about a great capacity to love other people. It allows you to listen to the struggles of others and process their hurt with them.
When you’re not stuck in disappointment, hate, and frustration, your life becomes filled with love, beauty, and relentless passion.
There is a time to confront because healthy relationships cannot exist amid lies and pretending. Don’t be afraid to tell your friend, family member, or spouse when they’ve wronged you. Speak the truth in love. Taking responsibility doesn't mean you hide from that. There’s a way to be honest and truthful while applying the gospel and grace at the same time.
This balance can be very difficult to achieve, especially when we’ve been deeply hurt. But to release yourself from the bondage of hate is to fight for your freedom.
So, trust God to heal those places in you to ensure that they don’t take hold of your heart and hold you back from all that God has for you.
You don't want to be discouraged because you hold resentment towards people that haven't let God heal them. If you’re not sure where to start, the act of naming your resentments can kickstart your healing.
Scripture for your thoughts
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