I Am Response-Able

In an age of victimization, blame-shifting and irresponsibility, we cannot escape the fact that God created us as responsible beings. We are accountable for saying “no” to sin. To those who would surrender to the power of sin, God says, “you must subdue it and be its master.”

The Journey // Focus: Genesis 4:6-7

“Why are you so angry?” the Lord asked Cain. “Why do you look so dejected? You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.”

I am grateful that God has made me responsible, that is, response-able. In an age of victimization, blame-shifting and irresponsibility, we cannot escape the fact that God created us as responsible beings. We are accountable!

That is really good news, as disappointing as it might seem to some, because sin wants to have dominion over me—that has always been and will always be the case. And it will continually dominate me if I accept that I am simply sin’s hapless victim, unable to overcome it. But God wants me to subdue it, to master it. And I can. I can because God has commanded me to “subdue it and be its master.”

God has gifted me with freedom of choice…one of the most powerful forces in the universe. I can choose my response in any given set of circumstances. Sin doesn’t control me; I do. I am the one who gives sin power over my actions. Likewise, I can tap into divine power within me to subdue sin when I submit to God’s will.

Thank God for his grace, “that has appeared, offering salvation to all people. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” (Titus 2:11-13)

I have within me the power of no—I can say no to sin when it comes knocking at my door! The Apostle Paul put it powerfully in Romans 6:

For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace…But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness…And now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:14, 17-18, 22-23)

Thank God, I am not a slave to my sin! In fact, according to the God who created me, I can enslave it and be its master.