9 Bible Verses about Authority, Responsibilities Of

Jesus, however, called the ten to him, and said: "The rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them as you know, and their great men oppress them. Among you it is not so. No, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to take the first place among you, must be your slave;read more.
Just as the Son of Man came, not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

But Jesus called the ten to him, and said: "Those who are regarded as ruling among the Gentiles lord it over them, as you know, and their great men oppress them. But among you it is not so. No, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, And whoever wants to take the first place among you must be the servant of all;read more.
For even the Son of Man came, not be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Rose from his place, and, taking off his upper garments, tied a towel round his waist. He then poured some water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel which was tied round him. When he came to Simon Peter, Peter said: "You, Master! Are you going to wash my feet?"read more.
"You do not understand now what I am doing," replied Jesus, "but you will learn by and by." "You shall never wash my feet!" exclaimed Peter. "Unless I wash you," answered Jesus, "you have nothing in common with me." "Then, Master, not my feet only," exclaimed Simon Peter, "but also my hands and my head." "He who has bathed," replied Jesus, "has no need to wash, unless it be his feet, but is altogether clean; and you," he said to the disciples, "are clean, yet not all of you." For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said 'You are not all clean.' When he had washed their feet, and had put on his upper garments and taken his place, he spoke to them again. "Do you understand what I have been doing to you?" he asked. "You yourselves call me 'the Teacher' and 'the Master', and you are right, for I am both. If I, then--'the Master' and 'the Teacher'--have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet; For I have given you an example, so that you may do just as I have done to you.

Even if I boast extravagantly about our authority--which the Lord gave us for building up your faith and not for overthrowing it--still I have no reason to be ashamed.

This is my reason for writing as I am now doing, while I am away from you, so that, when I am with you, I may not act harshly in the exercise of the authority which the Lord gave me--and gave me for building up and not for pulling down.

Have not we a right to food and drink? Have not we a right to take a wife with us, if she is a Christian, as the other Apostles and the Master's brothers and Kephas all do? Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to give up working for our bread?read more.
Does any one ever serve as a soldier at his own expense? Does any one plant a vineyard and not eat its produce? Or does any one look after a herd and not drink the milk? Am I, in all this, speaking only from the human standpoint? Does not the Law also say the same? For in the Law of Moses it is said-'Thou shalt not muzzle a bullock while it is treading out the grain.' Is it the bullocks that God is thinking of? Or is not is said entirely for our sakes? Surely it was written for our sakes, for the ploughman ought not to plough, nor the thrasher to thrash, without expecting a share of the grain. Since we, then, sowed spiritual seed for you, is it too much that we should reap from you an earthly harvest? If others share in this right over you, do not we even more? Still we did not avail ourselves of this right. No, we endure anything rather than impede the progress of the Good News of the Christ. Do not you know that those who do the work of the Temple live on what comes from the Temple, and that those who serve at the altar share the offerings with the altar? So, too, the Master has appointed that those who tell the Good News should get their living from the Good News. I, however, have not availed myself of any of these rights. I am not saying this to secure such an arrangement for myself; indeed, I would far rather die-Nobody shall make my boast a vain one! If I tell the Good News, I have nothing to boast of, for I can but do so. Woe is me if I do not tell it! If I do this work willingly, I have a reward; but, if unwillingly, I have been charged to perform a duty. What is my reward, then? To present the Good News free of all cost, and so make but a sparing use of the rights which it gives me.

Can it be that, when one of you has a dispute with another, he dares to have his case tried before the heathen, instead of before Christ's People? Do not you know that Christ's People will try the world? And if the world is to be tried by you, are you unfit to try the most trivial cases? Do not you know that we are to try angels-to say nothing of the affairs of this life?read more.
Why, then, if you have cases relating to the affairs of this life, do you set to try them men who carry no weight with the Church? To your shame I ask it. Can it be that there is not one man among you wise enough to decide between two of his Brothers? Must Brother go to law with Brother, and that, too, before unbelievers? To begin with, it is undoubtedly a loss to you to have lawsuits with one another. Why not rather let yourselves be wronged? Why not rather let yourselves be cheated?

What we eat, however, will not bring us nearer to God. We lose nothing by not eating this food, and we gain nothing by eating it. But take care that this right of yours does not become in any way a stumbling-block to the weak. For if some one should see you who possess this knowledge, feasting in an idol's temple, will not his conscience, if he is a weak man, become so hardened that he, too, will eat food offered to idols?read more.
And so, through this knowledge of yours, the weak man is ruined-your Brother for whose sake Christ died! In this way, by sinning against your Brothers and injuring their consciences, while still weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if what I eat makes my Brother fall, rather than make my Brother fall, I will never eat meat again.

Everything is allowable! Yes, but everything is not profitable. Everything is allowable! Yes, but everything does not build up character. A man must not study his own interests, but the interests of others.