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Introduction
Taking charge of your own life means owning your choices and the direction your life is heading. It means accepting the responsibility for your own actions. It is becoming the primary driver of your decisions, habits, and future. As Christians, we are not called to live a passive life. God has given us responsibility, purpose, and the ability to make choices that align with His will. You are a steward of the life God gave to you. Your life is entrusted to you by God. Therefore, you are responsible for all that you do with that life. So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God (Romans 14:12).
Examples of People Who Failed to Take Charge of Their Own Lives
Adam and Eve
It is natural of humans to want to cede the responsibility of their own life to someone else and situations. This is evident in the story of the first man, Adam. After Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating from the tree He had forbidden them from eating from, they tried to avoid responsibility instead of owning their actions.
When God confronted Adam, He asked a direct question: “Have you eaten from the tree I commanded you not to eat from?” Instead of admitting his fault, Adam shifted the blame to the woman. He said, “the woman you gave me… she gave me the fruit, and I ate.” In doing this, Adam not only blamed Eve but subtly pointed at God as the one who gave her to him.
Eve followed a similar pattern, “the serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
God did not accept these excuses. Instead, He held each person responsible for His own role. Even though there were influences and deception, God still required personal responsibility. Each person was judged according to their own actions.
The Young and Old Prophet
In 1 Kings 17, a “man of God” (young prophet) was sent from Judah to deliver a message to King Jeroboam. God gave him strict instructions: do not eat, do not drink, and do not return the same way.
After delivering the prophecy, an older prophet from Bethel went after him and lied, saying an angel told him to bring the young prophet back to eat. The young prophet believed him and disobeyed God’s original command.
While they were eating, God spoke through the same old prophet, revealing that the young prophet had disobeyed. As a result, judgment was pronounced: he would die on the way back. On his journey, he was killed by a lion.
The striking part is this, even though he was deceived, God did not excuse his disobedience. He had received a clear, direct command from God, and he was still held accountable for abandoning it.
God did not accept the young prophet’s excuse. When you have clear instruction from God, He holds you responsible for it.
The Pharisees and Their Converts
In Gospel of Matthew chapter 23 verse 15, Jesus pointed out something uncomfortable but important. Even though the Pharisees were the ones misleading their converts, He still described the converts themselves as “sons of hell.”
These converts didn’t intend to be misled; they were taught, guided, and shaped by religious leaders who appeared authoritative. Jesus’ statement shows that being misled did not remove their responsibility. At some point, they owned what they were taught, lived it out, and became products of that error.
So, while the Pharisees were guilty of leading wrongly, the converts were not treated as innocent victims. They were still accountable for the truth they accepted and the kind of lives they chose to live. Jesus called the converts “sons of hell” to show that even those who are misled are still responsible for what they believe.
Taking charge of your own life means not shifting the blames of the outcome of your life to people and situations.
Taking charge of your own life begins with acquiring wisdom. You cannot live responsibly before God beyond what you understand to be true. Scripture consistently shows that real responsibility starts with seeking understanding. Proverbs 4:7 says, “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore, get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.” Before you can truly take charge of your life, you must first learn what is right, true, and aligned with God.
In the earlier examples,
- Adam had a clear instruction but failed to hold on to it.
- The young prophet had direct revelation but abandoned it for the voice of another.
- The Pharisees’ converts accepted their teaching without discernment and became products of error
Recommended: Verses about taking responsibility for your actions
Taking Charge of Your Own Life
Seek Wisdom Deliberately
The pursuit of wisdom is deliberate and costly, but it’s usually worth it. Proverbs 23:23 Buy truth, and do not sell it, get wisdom and instruction and understanding. The cost of getting wisdom might be time, effort or personal sacrifice. Be deliberate about taking charge of your life. Being complacent is the greatest enemy of personal development. Complacence makes you satisfied at the level of wisdom you have attained, whereas, one of the marks of the wise is that they keep increasing in wisdom.
Taking charge of your life means refusing to let your past mistakes keep you in ignorance and choosing instead to pursue wisdom now, so your future is not a repetition of your past. You can’t stay stuck in the past. Acknowledge past mistakes without excusing them, refuse to let guilt or regret paralyze you, only then can you be deliberate in pursuing wisdom to shape a different future.
Test What You Hear
You are not to accept everything as face value, take charge of your life by testing what you hear. 1 Thessalonians 5:21, test all things; hold fast to what is good. The reason why you put all things to the test is because not all things are good. If you do not take charge of your life by testing all things, the direction of your life will always be determined by others.
From our earlier examples, we can see that the devil can mislead, spiritual leaders can misdirect, and even older ministers can deceive. So, it doesn’t matter the position, experience or age of the one giving you knowledge, it remains your responsibility to filter what you hear, so that you can always hold fast to what is good.
In this age of oversaturation of information, you must be deliberate in what you accept as wisdom and what you believe as true. unexamined beliefs can quietly shape you into something you never intended to become.
Refuse to Act in Ignorance
Ignorance is the lack of knowledge. It is not good for a man to be without knowledge, because lack of knowledge destroys (Proverbs 19:2, Hosea 4:6). Your actions should always be based on the knowledge you have per time. It your responsibility to grow in knowledge, ignorance is not a tenable excuse. It is a mark of a wise man. Proverbs 18:15:
“The mind of the prudent acquires knowledge, And the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.”
Take charge of your life by refusing to act in ignorance. Don’t be pressured to always act immediately, especially if you don’t have an adequate knowledge on the matter yet.
You can’t always wait for perfect knowledge before you act, life often requires decisions with incomplete information. Incomplete information is not ignorance. Even in the matter of salvation, you are not required to know all the Christian doctrines before you get saved.
The believe in the simple truth, that a just Man died for unjust men, is sufficient to save you. While you actively seek to grow in knowledge, never wait for perfect knowledge before you act. There are certain knowledges you will never acquire till you act. What you should never do is acting in ignorance.
Own Your Choices
One of the clearest signs that you are taking charge of your own life is owning your decisions. People who never own their choices rarely change, so they never grow because change is necessary for growth. When you fail to own your choices, you stay trapped in blame, denial or self-justification. You have to learn to acknowledge your participation in your choices. There will always be influences to blame, you aren’t always in control of the circumstances you experience, but you are the only one in control of how those circumstances affect your choices.
Blaming external influences like upbringing or environment can provide an explanation for why you act a certain way, but it does not provide a solution. You experience is valid, but how you respond to the experience will be the major determinant of growth in your life. Your choice will determine if you stay trapped or liberated. People with similar experiences do not always turn out the same way in life.
There is a popular story of two boys who grew up with an alcoholic father, both of them turned out differently. They were both influenced in the same way, but they both responded differently, which made the difference in how they turned out. One son also became an alcoholic and lived a destructive life like his father. The other son grew up disciplined, responsible, and successful.
The story teaches that people can experience the same circumstances yet choose different responses. While background may influence a person, but it does not fully determine their choices or future. Take charge your life by owning the choices you make.
Practice Discipline
Practicing discipline is a major part of taking charge of your life because a person without discipline is often ruled by feelings, impulses, and temporary desires instead of wisdom and purpose. Discipline is the ability to consistently do what is right even when it is uncomfortable, inconvenient, or unpopular. Discipline gives you a level of control over the outcome of your life. A life that lacks discipline always eventually comes to ruin.
Discipline establishes personal boundaries. You are not directed by chance or random occurrences. Discipline helps you to determine what stays in your life and what doesn’t. There is no better way of taking charge of your own life than being disciplined.
Discipline helps you to stay consistent with what you know is right. It helps you to build habits that supports the kind of future you want. Discipline is the daily commitment to small efforts that build lasting habits. Discipline sets the direction of your life. You become better at whatever you apply discipline to over time. …for just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness leading to sanctification (Romans 6:19).
Apostle Paul was simply saying that if you give yourself to impurity and lawlessness, you will become more lawless; and if you give yourself to righteousness, you will grow in sanctification. This can simply be summarized thus: we are shaped by what we repeatedly do. Without discipline, you cede the control of your life to chance, ease and feelings. You take the path that doesn’t require much of your input. Discipline allows you to take charge of your life by intentionally interrupting the natural flow and driving your life towards your determined direction.
Be Proactive, Not Reactive
Being proactive allows you to live with intention rather than constantly being controlled by circumstances, emotions, or pressure. It makes you respond to situation without derailing you from your original trajectory. You foresee the possibilities of a problem even before they happen, so it helps you to respond in a way that serves your original intent.
Being proactive is being a step ahead, and this is what God did for us in providing a lamb to be slain for the redemption of mankind even before man ever fell (Revelation 13:8). In 1 Corinthians 10:13, God doesn’t wait for you to fall before providing a way of escape, the way of escape is provided alongside the temptation itself.
What you can learn from all these is that you must have the foresight to always envisage that things won’t always go as you planned, so when the disruption in plans come, it doesn’t catch you by surprise. Having foresight keeps you in charge of your life even in the midst of disruption. Joseph used foresight to prepare Egypt for a severe famine. When the famine came, Egypt had enough grain not only to survive but also to supply other nations.
A reactive person mainly responds to problems after they happen. Because Joseph planned ahead while others only reacted when the crisis arrived, order was maintained in the land. God didn’t stop the famine from happening, He provided a way out through Joseph’s wisdom and foresight. Being proactive will keep you steady in the midst of adverse circumstances. Take charge of your life by being proactive; pursue wisdom, prepare ahead, and make intentional decisions instead of being driven only by circumstances.
Conclusion
Taking charge of your own life is not about becoming independent of God, it is about becoming responsible before Him. Accept the responsibility for who you are becoming before God and make deliberate choices today that align with His purpose. Choose wisdom over ignorance, discipline over impulse, truth over deception, and responsibility over excuses.
Scripture consistently reveals that God holds people accountable only for what they do regardless of what or who made them to do it. Adam could not hide behind Eve. The young prophet could not hide behind the deception of the old prophet. The Pharisees’ converts could not hide behind misleading teachers. Each person was responsible for the choices they embraced and the direction they followed.
A life guided by wisdom, discipline, and responsibility becomes intentional, fruitful, and grounded.
Article written by:
Dr. Toluwalope David Fakorede
