The fourteenth of January

Let me take responsibility for myself and not have expectations of others^*

This sounds to me like advice to mind your own business. I'm not sure I'm entirely comfortable with it.

In the Bible, we have Paul's instructions in 1^st Corinthians 5 about how to deal with immorality specifically within the church, and he certainly seems to be expecting certain standards. Also, I think people often respond well when something is expected of them, perhaps thinking If they think I can manage that, then maybe I can, and consequently making more of an effort.

In contrast, we have Jesus expressing something perhaps quite similar to today's saying:

“And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying, ‘Friend, let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.”—Luke 5:41–42 (NLT)

(This is in the context of judging other people, if you care to have a look.) Note, though, that Jesus does suggest that you will, in some circumstances, be able to help your friend with the speck in their eye.

Also perhaps relevant is the famous instruction Jesus gave (recorded in John 8) to save a woman from being stoned for adultery: “let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” (NLT). Interestingly, this story finishes like this:

Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”
“No, Lord,” she said.
And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”—verses 10–11 (NLT)

He still gives instructions for her not to sin.

Perhaps Jesus agrees with today's saying as far as encouraging us to be primarily responsible for ourselves, but not as far as encouraging us to be exclusively responsible for ourselves.

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^* Reproduced by permission of the copyright-holder BK Publications, London, www.bkpublications.com