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As I sit here in today’s climate, in which at every corner people are turning to the government for answers and insisting that it fix all the world’s problems, I wonder, “Why do I look to the government to fix all of this?” Then I look back at myself in the mirror and ask, “In what ways is it my responsibility?” 

If you were to ask yourself the same question, what would your answer be?

This election year the same main topics arise as they have in the past simply because we as people think the same as we have in the past. I personally believe our thinking would be different if we acted differently. So I’d like to pose a question or two on some big topics to see if it spurs on any action.

In what ways is my personal economic situation my responsibility? Galatians 6:4-5 says, “But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load.”

In what ways should I take responsibility for my neighbor’s economic situation? Acts 20:35 says, “In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

How does crime equate to sin and what if I took responsibility for it personally? Ephesians 4:28 says, “Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.”

And if crime is a sin, who is held responsible for the action? Galatians 6:7-8 says, “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

Race, immigration and abortion – how is this your responsibility? John 13:34 says, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”

How would this look if we considered it a collective responsibility? 

Philippians 2:4 says, “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Jeremiah 1:4-5 says, “Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.’

Romans 2:11 says, “For God shows no partiality.”

So I ask, “Whose responsibility is it?” If that responsibility is mine, what actions am I taking?

If that responsibility is yours, what actions are you taking? 

How can our actions take the responsibility off of the government and place it on us? 

Rhonda Gould, 

Winchester