Taking Responsibility (5)

I have a great sense of obligation.
Romans 1:14 NLT

Taking responsibility means giving back what was given to you. Paul focused on: (a) making Christ known; (b) building a church that would continue to make Christ known. And he took his responsibility seriously: "I have a great sense of obligation to people in both the civilized world and the rest of the world… to preach the Good News" (Romans 1:14-15 NLT). That's called "living beyond yourself!" Self-serving people regard their talents and resources as something they own. Serving people see themselves as executors of God's estate; they know they don't own it, they just administer it for Him.

After his time in Nazi concentration camps, Elie Wiesel lived for one thing - to give back to others. He taught as a professor at Boston University, and traveled extensively, sharing the wisdom gained from his life experiences. A question he often asked young people was, "How will you cope with the privileges and obligations society will feel entitled to place on you?" As he tried to guide them he shared his sense of responsibility: "What I receive I must pass on to others. The knowledge that I have must not remain imprisoned in my brain. I owe it to many men and women to do something with it. I feel the need to pay back what was given to me. Call it gratitude… To learn means to accept that life did not begin at my birth. Others have been there before me, and I walk in their footsteps."

Your life is a story. Each day you get to write a new page. So fill those pages with responsibility to God, to others, and to yourself. If you do, in the end you will not be disappointed.