Best of Daily Reflections: We Are Each Responsible for Our Own Conduct

If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important.

Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else. For we are each responsible for our own conduct.

Galatians 6:3-4

The day I took charge over my own actions and career was the day I was set free.

When I was 19 years old, I wanted more than anything for God to make me a very successful Christian songwriter. I prayed and fasted and wrote spiritual songs and talked endlessly about it with my friends. But I never really did anything about it. Here I am thirty years later as a business manager, because that is where I ended up funneling my energy and activities over the years.

As Christians, it can be tempting to over-spiritualize our dreams and desires, making God responsible for every move while we take the safer role of passive victim in the story unfolding around us.

Paul finishes off this segment with some very sensible advice—take responsibility for your life and career, your conduct and actions. Each of us has only this one life before us with a limited number of days. For whatever reason, God has given us a great deal of brain power and flexibility to make stuff happen within that time span, but he’s not necessarily going to do it for you.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION:Are you blaming God for not showing up to do your grunt work? Do you expect things to be easy, hand-delivered on a spiritual silver platter, or are you willing to make a plan and do the work required?

PRAYER: Lord, you are sovereign over all the universe, yet you give us the responsibility to make the choices and decisions for our own actions that dictate our futures. It is a hard mystery to comprehend how your omniscient grace and mercy overshadows all of our choices, but we are grateful for it. Lord, help us not to be lazy, but to do our part in allowing you to fully bless our lives by taking initiative, action, and full responsibility for our future, while acknowledging your loving hand guiding it all. Amen.

P.S. by Mark Roberts: At certain times throughout the year, I invite others to write a few Daily Reflections. This week's reflections will be written by J. B. Wood. In addition to being a Content Editor for The High Calling, J. B. is a Senior Vice President of a large business in the Northeast USA. At Shrinking the Camel J. B. regularly confronts the challenges of integrating professional life and spiritual life with humor. His most recent book is At Work As It Is In Heaven: 25 Ways to Re-Imagine the Spiritual Purpose of Your Work. I know you will be encouraged by J. B.’s reflections on Galatians 6. I'll be back with you on Saturday.