A responsible person is one who is able to act without guidance or supervision, because he or she is accountable and answerable for his or her behavior.
A responsible person can be trusted to do things on his or her own. Ingraining responsibility is akin to teaching them life skills and is more than teaching them to complete a task; it is taking the initiative to accomplish something and being proud of doing it. Children who do not have responsibilities grow up feeling entitled, believing the world will take care of them and often times grow up to be unreliable and self-centered. It is our job to teach young children to be responsible for themselves and the environments in which they live and play, to the extent that it is developmentally appropriate.
View Lessons on Responsibility »
Bible Verses:
Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men
Romans 14:12 Each of us will give an account of himself to God.
Proverbs 16:3 Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.
Genesis 2:15 The Lord took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.
They will learn by the example you set for them. Even babies can learn about responsibility!
Read I Chronicles 29:9-17. Share how the people gave and worked with joy because they were glorifying God.
Read Exodus 20:9. Share how God has given us six days to do all our work. Talk about the different kinds of "work" your child has at home , school and church.
Read Genesis 39:1-6. Share how Joseph was a hard and diligent worker.
Even young children can be responsible.
- Even young children can be responsible. Young children can have chores and should be responsible to complete chores on a daily basis. Chores for young children can include cleaning up their toys, wiping off the table, feeding a pet, etc.
- Allow your child to make decisions by giving age appropriate choices such as “Do you want to wear the green t or blue shirt today”?
- Foster independence by providing child-sized tools that they can use. For example, snacks they can reach, small pitcher from which they can pour, etc.
- Joseph and the King of Egypt, Penny Frank
- Adam and Eve in the Garden, Zondervan
- Dorcas, Gospel Light Production
- Songs: Fishers of Men, Give Me Oil in My Lamp, Michael Rowed the Boat Ashore, The Wise Man Built His House Upon the Rock, We Are the Hands, Aaron Blanton, We Give Thee But Thine Own, Noble White
Whatever you do, work heartily (Col 3:23)…It is our job to teach young children to be responsible for themselves and the environments in which they live and play, to the extent that it is developmentally appropriate,.
Adventist History – Leonard Hastings cares for his farm
Leonard Hastings was a farmer. He took care of cattle, grew a garden and planted lots and lots of potatoes! One year, though, he was too busy telling people about Jesus that he did not harvest his potatoes. All his neighbors thought his potatoes would rot in the ground and become yucky; “bugs will eat those potatoes,” they said! But, you know what? When farmer Hastings finally dug up his potatoes, they were the biggest, best potatoes he had ever grown! No rot, no bugs, no insects – just beautiful, yummy potatoes. Isn’t God wonderful? Farmer Hastings told others about Jesus and God gave him a wonderful crop of potatoes to say “thank you”.
- Plan a Family Work Day where all families are invited to join in the fun in cleaning the school, the school grounds or the church. Take pictures, enjoy a meal together as a reward for the hard work and talk about being responsible citizens of our homes, our school, our church and our community.
- Get a classroom pet. Assign teams to be responsible for the care of the pet during the week and, with the parents’ permission of course, allow children to alternate taking the pet home on the weekend with them being responsible for the overall care of the pet.