9 Bible Verses about Authority, Responsibilities Of

but Jesus called them and said, "You know the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men overbear them: not so with you. Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave;read more.
just as the Son of man has not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

so Jesus called them and said, "You know the so-called rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men overbear them: not so with you. Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever of you wants to be first must be your slave;read more.
for the Son of man himself has not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

he rose from table, laid aside his robe, and tied a towel round him, then poured water into a basin, and began to wash the feet of the disciples, wiping them with the towel he had tied round him. He came to Simon Peter. "Lord," said he, "you to wash my feet!"read more.
Jesus answered him, "You do not understand just now what I am doing, but you will understand it later on." Said Peter, "You will never wash my feet, never!" "Unless I wash you," Jesus replied, "you will not share my lot." "Lord," said Simon Peter, "then wash not only my feet but my hands and head." Jesus said, "He who has bathed only needs to have his feet washed; he is clean all over. And you are clean ??but not all of you" (he knew the traitor; that was why he said, "You are not all clean"). Then, after washing their feet and putting on his robe, he lay down again. "Do you know," he said to them, "what I have been doing to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right: that is what I am. Well, if I have washed your feet, I who am your Lord and Teacher, you are bound to wash one another's feet; for I have been setting you an example, that you should do what I have done to you.

Even supposing I were to boast somewhat freely of my authority (and the Lord gave it to me for building you up, not for demolishing you), I would feel quite justified.

I am writing thus to you in absence, so that when I do come I may not have to deal sharply with you; I have the Lord's authority for that, but he gave it to me for building you up, not for demolishing you.

Have we no right to eat and drink at the expense of the churches? Have we no right to travel with a Christian wife, like the rest of the apostles, like the brothers of the Lord, like Cephas himself? What! are we the only ones, myself and Barnabas, who are denied the right of abstaining from work for our living?read more.
Does a soldier provide his own supplies? Does a man plant a vineyard without eating its produce? Does a shepherd get no drink from the milk of the flock? Human arguments, you say? But does not Scripture urge the very same? It is written in the law of Moses, You must not muzzle an ox when he is treading the grain. Is God thinking here about cattle? Or is he speaking purely for our sakes? Assuredly for our sakes. This word was written for us, because the ploughman needs to plough in hope, and the thresher to thresh in the hope of getting a share in the crop. If we sowed you the seeds of spiritual good, is it a great matter if we reap your worldly goods? If others share this right over you, why not we all the more? We did not avail ourselves of it, you say? No, we do not mind any privations if we can only avoid putting any obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ. Do you not know that as men who perform temple-rites get their food from the temple, and as attendants at the altar get their share of the sacrifices, so the Lord's instructions were that those who proclaim the gospel are to get their living by the gospel? Only, I have not availed myself of any of these rights, and I am not writing in order to secure any such provision for myself. I would die sooner than let anyone deprive me of this, my source of pride. What I am proud of is not the mere preaching of the gospel; that I am constrained to do. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! I get a reward if I do it of my own accord, whereas to do it otherwise is no more than for a steward to discharge his trust. And my reward? This, that I can preach the gospel free of charge, that I can refrain from insisting on all my rights as a preacher of the gospel.

When any of you has a grievance against his neighbour, do you dare to go to law in a sinful pagan court, instead of laying the case before the saints? Do you not know the saints are to manage the world? If the world is to come under your jurisdiction, are you incompetent to adjudicate upon trifles? Do you not know we are to manage angels, let alone mundane issues?read more.
And yet, when you have mundane issues to settle, you refer them to the judgment of men who from the point of view of the church are of no account! I say this to put you to shame. Has it come to this, that there is not a single wise man among you who could decide a dispute between members of the brotherhood, instead of one brother going to law with another ??and before unbelievers too! Even to have law-suits with one another is in itself evidence of defeat. Why not rather let yourselves be wronged? Why not rather let yourselves be defrauded?

Now mere food will not bring us any nearer to God; if we abstain we do not lose anything, and if we eat we do not gain anything. But see that the exercise of your right does not prove any stumbling-block to the weak. Suppose anyone sees you, a person of enlightened mind, reclining at meat inside an idol's temple; will that really 'fortify his weak conscience'? Will it not embolden him to violate his scruples of conscience by eating food that has been offered to idols?read more.
He is ruined, this weak man, ruined by your 'enlightened mind,' this brother for whose sake Christ died! By sinning against the brotherhood in this way and wounding their weaker consciences, you are sinning against Christ. Therefore if food is any hindrance to my brother's welfare, sooner than injure him I will never eat flesh as long as I live, never!

'All things are lawful'? Yes, but not all are good for us. 'All things are lawful'? Yes, but not all are edifying. Each of us must consult his neighbour's interests, not his own.