Post #82(a) - The Maturity of Taking Responsibility

Taking responsibility for yourself and your actions shows maturity. 

We can't continue to blame others for our actions and reactions. We have the ability to practice self control and ensure that we don't do or say anything that we will later regret and have to blame someone else for. 

No one but us can control our mouths or our members, so why do we blame others when we act out of character? It is our responsibility to govern ourselves and control our tongues. James 1:26 says that if we say we are religious and serve God but we do not control our tongues, we are fooling ourselves and our religion is worthless!

Or do you think you are perfect? The bible says that "if anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is perfect, able to keep his whole body in check" (James 3:2). But this isn't you, is it? 

Many of us allow anger to control us, getting upset and aggravated about every little thing. Then we blame the person we are mad at for our anger. But the bible tells us that it is we that need to control our anger, because anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. We should, instead, be slow to become angry, slow to speak, and quick to listen (James 1:19-20).

Self control is a show of faith. It shows God that we trust Him to handle the difficult situations that we are in. So, we control ourselves, submit to God in prayer, and wait for Him to handle our situations. 

This is the kind of behavior that pleases God. And without faith, it's impossible to please Him.

Taking note of our faults is not a show of failure or weakness. In fact, it makes us stronger and wiser. 2 Peter 1:5-10 says that we must make every effort to have faith, and add goodness to that faith; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self control; and to self control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 

The bible says, if we possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep us from being ineffective and unproductive in our knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ... If we do these things, we will never fail.

So, not only does taking responsibility for ourselves mature us... it benefits us.