Responsibility

The sermon at church this weekend was on Responsibility.  It was a great sermon that caused much soul searching.  I loved how it applied to not only my life but the lives of my children and how I am raising them.  How am I doing at making them responsible for the things that they choose to do or not do?  Are they going to be responsible adults or will they try and shift blame for everything to someone else?  The Scripture reference was 2 Samuel 11 & 12 when David took Bathsheba. 

In order to take responsibility for your life you have to be willing to deal with your baggage.  We all have baggage.  Be it emotional, physical, spiritual..we all have it.  But baggage is not something that Christ wants us to carry around with us.  Our past experiences can either be a source of strength, wisdom, and compassion; or it can be a source of guilt and self-condemnation that we use as an excuse for not succeeding at things. 

What will we do, how shall we live?

Here were some questions that were on the back of a handout we were given in church.  I thought that they were appropriate to keep in mind.

1.  Do you make excuses as to why you can't be happy?
2.  Do you find yourself throwing up walls to distance yourself from people or experiences?
3.  Do you find it difficult to let go of past hurt or experiences?
4.  Do you frequently find yourself in conflict?
5.  Do you hold emotions in, in hopes of avoiding certain confrontation?
6.  Do you find yourself blaming others for past and present events happening in your life?
7.  Are there always reasons as to why you don't achieve what it is you set out to achieve?

I'm not sure where they got these questions from, but I think they are handy in attempting to figure out why we do what we do. 

In all things, we should seek Christ and follow His leading.  We can't do that if we are consistently answering yes to these questions. 

Just some thoughts...what do you think?