Freedom to Be… (Part 3)

Responsibility
2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

We are living in a day where abdicated responsibility has become the normal and not the aberrant behavior.  In the study of freedom we must recognize and comprehend the important role of responsibility.  While many feel that they are not the ones shirking responsibility, it would do well for us to consider what responsibility really means from God's perspective.

Freedom cannot long exist without responsibility.

People can be terribly unreliable but never irresponsible.

Self - respect is a product of accepting responsibility.

I. Responsibility comes from God.- Matthew 26:36-39

A.    God gives responsibility through Gethsemanes - personal encounters with God.

Responsibility is something that we feel. There is definitely
pressure connected with that which is our responsibility.

There is no “ownership” without “responsibility.

B.    It is our "responsibilities" that will reveal our "purpose".

If we seek to transfer our responsibilities, God will care for those entrusted to us but it will always be secondary to what it could have been.

C.    Victim-living is the role many assume today to avoid responsibility.

·  The Victim's Motto - "As long as I can blame, I don't have to be responsible.”

·  The Victim's Predicament - "Until I am responsible, I have no power."

II. Jesus' Response to God's Will for Him - Philippians 2:1-8

A. Singleness of Purpose - v.1-2

Priorities in life tell us who we are; they set our lifestyle.

B. Selfless in Attitude - v.3-4

C. Servant in Relationships - v.5-7

D. Sacrificial in Obedience - v.8

Responsibilities often require sacrifice to know their value. 

III. God's Response to Jesus’ Responsibility - Philippians 2:1-8

Jesus was exalted - worthy of honor Revelation 5:9-14