I hope that this article finds you in the best of health.
Today I am going to deal with a very important topic (I always deal with very important topics!). I am going to focus on the need for every one of us to act responsibly and I am glad that you’ve spared some time to read this article.
I have always held the view that people were created so that they would be responsible citizens of Mother Earth. I am confident that God never intended that people would act irresponsibly. God is a God of integrity, He’s a God of excellence, and nobody can become his/her best or achieve excellence if he acts irresponsibly!
When I look around today I sense, I smell, and I see that I am a victim of irresponsibility. There are several areas of my life that have been negatively affected by somebody else’s irresponsibility, and the same surely applies to you. Just look around you and see for yourself!
When I realised that a lot of people were acting irresponsibly, even some of those who are supposed to be esteemed people in society, I decided to recheck my definition of the word “responsible” because I had begun to think that I could be wrong. I said to myself, “If these people, who are supposed to know better than I do, knew the meaning of the word ‘responsible’, they would not be acting the way they are doing right now.” Admittedly English is a second language to me, so I need to rely on the dictionary a lot. I suppose that even those who are really English do consult the dictionary from time to time.
So I consulted
The Random House College Dictionary and found that the dictionary defines the word ‘responsible’ as follows:
Answerable or accountable, as for something within one’s power or control. Having a capacity for moral decisions and therefore accountable.Read the definition three times. Read it slowly and loud enough for someone in the same room with you to hear. After you do so you should then take a minute of silence to consider the question which goes,
“Am I a responsible person?” Be honest. Are you accountable for the things within your power and control? Do you always act or talk honourably?
I request you to write down just three occasions in which you did not act responsibly. If many of them come to mind write them all down. After that take some time to look at your list.
What picture do you see? You need to keep in mind that the picture that you see is the same picture that the world sees in you. What are you going to do about it?
I have come to believe that most, if not all, of the problems that every person faces today arise out of either his own irresponsibility or that of someone else. I hope you see issues the same way. I think that the world would be a better place today if everybody had acted responsibly in the past.
Today the call to act responsibly is becoming louder and more frequent than before and as you read this article you must find it in your heart to heed the call.
It’s an urgent call; it cannot wait until tomorrow. Now is the day that all hearts should burn for what is noble, transparent, constructive, right, morally correct.
You and I have several areas that are within our power and control…several. In each of these areas we need to ensure that we conduct ourselves with dignity. We should not have anything worth hiding. We should be in a position to clearly explain everything and sufficiently justify our actions. As you read this article you can be sure that there are a lot of people who are busy hiding information on the actions that they took in the past simply because such actions cannot stand scrutiny. Any action that cannot stand scrutiny borders on selfishness and irresponsibility.
Let me quote from the bible. Paul gave Timothy the following instruction:
Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care (1 Timothy 6:20). Paul was teaching Timothy to be accountable for his actions. Timothy heeded the teaching and went on to become a great leader in the service of the Lord.
What is it that has been entrusted to your care? There surely is something entrusted to your care! I have, you have. What are you doing about it? Are you guarding it or are you destroying it or acting negligently?
Let me explain what the verse means: If you are a pastor, you have the congregation in your care. If you are a teacher, you have the students in your care. If you are a parent, you have the family in your care. If you are a President or Prime Minister, the country has been entrusted to your care. If you are a health professional, the patients have been placed in your care. If you are a driver carrying passengers, the passengers are in your care. If you are a city father, the city has been entrusted to your care. If you are an employer, employees who run your business have been entrusted to your care.
I think that you now appreciate why I think that most of our problems arise from the irresponsibility of some people. Sometimes people have died on the roads simply because the driver acted irresponsibly and even ignored rebuke by the passengers. Road accidents are also caused by motorists speeding through a red robot, pedestrian crossing or junction at which they must give way to other traffic. Drunken driving is also a major contributor in this regard. One day I overheard two men engaged in a conversation. They were laughing and I thought that they were talking about something exciting. One of them said, “My friend, I still am at a loss how on this earth I managed to drive home yesterday evening. I was so drunk that I could not get out of the car after parking it. My wife and children had to pull me out of the car and carry me into the house.” What do you make of this?
I also know of a number of cases in which teachers were either sacked or imprisoned for sexually abusing students in their care and children who have taken to the streets because parents failed to take proper care of them. These are just examples. The cases of irresponsibility are too numerous to mention!
There is something called shared responsibility. For instance, although I have said that a Prime Minister has the country in his care it is also true that the citizens of that country also have a responsibility in this matter. However, the responsibility that rests on the shoulders of the Prime Minister is not necessarily the same as the responsibility that rests on your shoulders, for instance. But you will be better placed to fulfill your kind of responsibility if the Prime Minister acts responsibly in his office.
If we fail to act responsibly in the here and now then we certainly do a great disservice to future generations. With our actions or omissions, and with our deeds, we shape the future. Let us not underestimate the power that we wield in determining the kind of future our children will possess. They look at us, they listen to us speaking and sometimes they judge us. How beautiful it would be for us to be guided by noble principles! How marvelous it would be to be real role models! How pleasing it would be for the future generations to look back and conclude that their elders taught them right!
Take it this way. We need to preserve the environment so that we bequeath it to our children in a condition that they would enjoy. We need to build our economy and the social sectors to a condition that is better than we found them for our children to call us builders, not demolishers. We need to leave a legacy of honesty, love, work and peace. It is within our power. It is within our means. We too can! I believe that we have sufficient willingness to do so. So let us work together. Let us be of service to our country and one another. Let us think progress always.
Are you guarding that which has been entrusted to your care? Do you have a clear conscience regarding how you have conducted yourself in the past? Can you stand with your chin up and shoulders high, without shame? Would God and man describe you as noble? Would they take you to be a person of integrity? If that is not the case then you’ve some work to do; you surely have a mindset that needs transforming.
Guard whatever is entrusted to your care! What a powerful teaching!
FOR GOD’S SAKE BECOME A (MORE) RESPONSIBLE PERSON!See you next time and be very expectant!
© 2009 by Phanuel Muverengwi
Phanuel Muverengwi is a renowned Christian motivational writer from Zimbabwe, Southern Africa. He has three books on the market as follows: SUCCESS LACKS MEANING IF GOD IS NOT IN IT (a serious exposition on God’s kind of success), HOW TO MAXIMISE THE VALUE OF YOUR LIFE (imparting a useful mindset for useful outcomes) and YOU HYPOCRITE (an analysis of hypocrisy in Christian worship). In Zimbabwe, books are available at Innov8 and Kingstons bookshops.
If want to enquire about the books please send an e-mail to tqi2004@yahoo.co.uk.
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