To be responsible is to be answerable for mistakes one made. However, men will always try to shrug off their responsibility and push the blame to others (e.g. Adam pushed the blame to Eve who then blamed the serpent for deceiving her into eating the fruit in the Garden of Eden). They will find someone or something to blame for the sins they committed. Exodus 21:28-36 records the civil laws pertaining to situations where a person is to take responsibility for the harm committed by his possession. Three situations are mentioned here:

- A person’s possession harmed another person (Exod 21:28-32)

- A person caused harm to another person’s possession (Exod 21:33-34)

- A person’s possession harmed another person’s possession (Exod 21:35-36)

We can draw three principles from these situations to help us understand about taking responsibility.

(1) Person who is responsible

In all these three situations, the owner is responsible for the damage or harm in which his possession had caused. As the owner of the possession, he cannot run away from his responsibility, even when he is unaware of the harm that his possession had done. Today, the owner, the team leader or the head of the family is responsible for his team or family members, and has to take ownership of any mistakes made by them. He must be accountable and must not push the blame to his team or family members.

(2) Preciseness in bearing responsibility

Even though the owner is to bear the responsibility for the damage or harm caused by his possession, there are different degrees of responsibility depending on the situation. The responsibility is less if the harm done is accidental as compared to when the harm done is due to the owner’s negligence as a result of his ignoring warnings that were given to him. The seriousness of deliberate negligence must not be downplayed. Hence, we must not be derelict or careless in the things that God has entrusted to us.

(3) Price in being responsible

There is a penalty in which the owner has to pay for the harm committed by his possession. This penalty is not just to punish the owner for the harm caused, but to also restore the person whom the wrongdoing was committed against. This is an indication of the owner’s sincerity and that he is remorseful for his sins committed against the other person.