Personal Responsibility 个人的责任

[Dexu Xia]

They were still eager to act corruptly in all they did. Zephaniah 3:7

My friend’s eyes revealed what I was feeling—fear! We two teens had behaved poorly and were now cowering before the camp director. The man, who knew our dads well, shared lovingly but pointedly that our fathers would be greatly disappointed. We wanted to crawl under the table—feeling the weight of personal responsibility for our offense.

God gave Zephaniah a message for the people of Judah that contained potent words about personal responsibility for sin (Zephaniah 1:1, 6–7). After describing the judgments He would bring against Judah’s foes (ch. 2), He turned His eyes on His guilty, squirming people (ch. 3). “What sorrow awaits rebellious, polluted Jerusalem,” God proclaimed (3:1 nlt). “They [are] still eager to act corruptly” (v. 7).

He'd seen the cold hearts of His people—their spiritual apathy, social injustice, and ugly greed—and He was bringing loving discipline. And it didn’t matter if the individuals were “leaders,” “judges,” “prophets”(vv. 3–4 nlt)—everyone was guilty before Him.

The apostle Paul wrote the following to believers in Jesus who persisted in sin, “You are storing up terrible punishment for yourself. . . . [God] will judge everyone according to what they have done” (Romans 2:5–6 nlt). So, in Jesus’ power, let’s live in a way that honors our holy, loving Father and leads to no remorse.

By:  Tom Felten

Why should you take personal responsibility for your sin? How do your wrong choices bring shame to God?

Heavenly Father, please help me pursue good choices for You.

只是你们从早起来，就在一切事上败坏自己。—西番雅书3章7节

我和朋友两人带着害怕和不安，正等待营长训话。那时，我们还是十多岁的少年，在参加夏令营时不守纪律而被送到营长面前。这位营长认识我们俩的父亲，他慈爱但直接地表示，我们的父亲会非常失望。想到我们的过错以及要承担的责任，我们又后悔又羞愧，巴不得钻到桌子底下。

上帝藉先知西番雅带给犹大百姓的信息，包含了个人犯罪所要承担的责任（西番雅书1章1、6-7节）。在讲述了上帝对犹大国的敌人施行审判之后（2章），上帝将焦点转向那犯罪、不安的百姓（3章）。上帝透过西番雅宣告：“这悖逆、污秽、欺压的城有祸了！”他们“在一切事上败坏自己”（3章1、7节）。

上帝看见了祂子民的铁石心肠，决定给予他们爱的管教，因为他们灵性冷漠，社会也充满不公和贪婪。这些百姓，不管是“首领”、“审判官”或“先知”（3-4节），每个人在上帝面前都是有罪的。

对于那些活在罪中的信徒，使徒保罗曾如此说道：“你竟任着你刚硬不悔改的心，为自己积蓄忿怒，……[上帝]必照各人的行为报应各人”（罗马书2章5-6节）。因此，让我们靠着耶稣的能力，使我们的生活能荣耀这位圣洁慈爱的天父，免得将来后悔莫及。

作者：  冯得恩

为什么你应为自己的罪承担个人的责任？
你错误的选择如何令上帝的名蒙羞？

天父，请帮助我作出尊荣祢的选择。