It is more accurate to say that we are responsible to others rather responsible for others. Understanding the difference can make a dramatic impact in our lives. How many of us rob ourselves of joy in life because we take on excessive guilt for the bad decisions of others. We cannot take personal responsibility for the decisions and actions of others. A better question is: “What is my responsibility to others?”
Our number one responsibility to others is to love them. What is love? Love is the identifying mark of Christ’s followers. Jesus says, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34–35). Love is the natural response of one who has been saved. Peter writes, “Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God” (1 Peter 1:22–23). We might look at an Olympic gold medal champion and say, “He was born to run!” Observing the lives of Christians, people should be able to say, “They were born to love!” Love is the proof of our relationship to God. John exhorts us to this end, saying, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God” (1 John 4:7). The inspired apostle goes on to say, “No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us” (1 John 4:12). Love is our obligation to others. Paul writes, “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law” (Rm. 13:8). Love is a debt always needing to be paid. When asked which was the greaest commandment, Jesus replied, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Matthew 22:37–39).
Love is active good will. It seeks what is best for others. Our responsibility is to love others. This is not easy in a world preoccupied with looking out for number one. But, love is the foundation virtue upon which rests all other responsibilities.
— Glen Elliott —