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Characteristics of a Responsible Man

What are the characteristics of the responsible man?

• He receives orders and commands without complaining or arguing (Philippians 2:14).
• He stretches and grows into a job he has to do. It does not break him.
• He is not defensive when he is accused, whether the accusation is true or false.
• He does not pass the buck; he does not blame others above, alongside, or below him.
• He is not short-tempered.
• He assumes the burden of supporting his family. Whether by work or by faith, the burden is his. "If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever" (1 Timothy 5:8).
• He teaches his children to be responsible.
• He provides a secure environment for his wife and children. He will not scold his wife. He certainly will not beat her. He will nourish and cherish her. He will nourish and admonish his children.
• He protects his family from all kinds of evil: physical, spiritual, and emotional.
• He is not selfish with his money, things, or time.
• He is a man of prayer. "I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing" (1 Timothy 2:8).
• He is a servant to others.
• He is self-controlled. In Titus 2, Titus is instructed to teach the older men “to be temperate, worthy of respect and self-controlled…Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled.” "For the grace of God has appeared that offers 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, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good" (Titus 2:11-14).

Responsibility means that a man takes complete responsibility for his actions, even if an action was irresponsible: for his wife and children, and for the sins of fornication and the consequent pregnancy, mother, and baby.

God requires men to love their wives and wives to respect their husbands. There is an obvious reason for this in creation. God made women with a great need to be loved, to be protected, and to be made secure. God made men with a need to be respected. Both were made incomplete. Man was made incomplete first, so woman was made to complete him. He in turn was to complete the need that was created in her.

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