THE ANOINTING OF RESPONSIBILITY

"Born from Fire" by Alx Luxmanov

Chapter 4

God Appoints the Burden Before the Blessing

• Why leadership is weight, not spotlight

• How to discern between your idea vs. God's instruction

• What to do when vision outgrows resources

Why God gives responsibility before reward

THE ANOINTING OF RESPONSIBILITY

There comes a moment in the life of every leader when they realize the weight on their shoulders is not an accident. It is not random. It is not coincidence, or pressure, or mere expectation. It is not something generated by society or imposed by culture. It is something placed there carefully, purposely, deliberately — a divine assignment wrapped in human demand. A responsibility that does not come from people but from the heart of God Himself.

Responsibility is not a chain. Responsibility is not a burden. Responsibility is not punishment. Responsibility is the anointing. The anointing is responsibility.

God never pours oil on someone to elevate their ego; He pours oil to equip them to love. And not just to love quietly, but to love with purpose, with consistency, with sacrifice — to love in a way that mirrors the heart of the King. To love His favorite creatures: people.

When we speak of leadership, we often talk about influence, vision, courage. But beneath all of that — beneath the strategy, beneath the discipline, beneath the grind and the ambition and the effort — there is something deeper. Something more ancient. Something so foundational that without it, leadership becomes hollow.

The foundation is this: A leader serves because God loves. A leader leads because God cares. A leader carries weight because people matter infinitely to Him.

Until a leader sees people the way God sees them, leadership will feel like work instead of worship.

God’s love for humanity is not soft, sentimental, or vague. It is fierce, relentless, and terrifyingly committed. Scripture says we are “fearfully and wonderfully made,” but we often forget the first word: fearfully. God approached your creation with awe, reverence, intention — with the same precision an artist gives to a masterpiece and the same passion a father gives to his children.

He breathed His own breath into us. He stamped His image upon us. He built eternity into the heart of every human being.

And because of this, people are not ordinary. People are not common. People are not disposable. Every person you lead, love, correct, encourage, or guide carries the fingerprint of the King. Every life is royal territory. Every heart is sacred ground.

And God gives you responsibility because He trusts you to handle what belongs to Him.

This is why leadership feels heavy. This is why leadership feels holy. This is why leadership feels terrifying at times — because it is.

You are not just managing tasks; you are touching souls.

You are not just organizing people; you are shaping destinies.

You are not just influencing teams; you are stewarding eternal beings made in the image of the Almighty.

Leadership becomes meaningful only when you realize it is less about managing and more about ministering. Not with sermons or stages, but with your life — your patience, your presence, your decisions, your love, your sacrifices, your willingness to carry more than your fair share so those behind you have a chance to grow.

Responsibility is the privilege to hold what God treasures.

And God treasures people more than anything He ever created.

He crafted mountains, but He did not call them children. He made stars, but He did not make them in His image. He formed oceans, but He did not die for them. But for humanity — the messy, flawed, stumbling, stubborn humanity we all are — He poured out His blood.

People are the obsession of God. People are the passion of God. People are the inheritance of God. People are the apple of His eye.

That is why leadership demands we care deeply. That is why leadership demands we take responsibility. That is why leadership demands we show up even when it hurts, even when we’re tired, even when it costs us something.

Because leadership is not something you do for yourself — it’s something you do for God, on behalf of the people He loves more than His own life.

If you cannot see the worth of a person, you will never understand the worth of your calling. Because the worth of a calling is reflected in the worth of the people assigned to it.

The greatest leaders in Scripture saw people the way God sees them.

Moses stood before a rebellious nation and pleaded with God, “If You will not forgive them, blot me out.” David wept for the people even while they tried to overthrow him. Paul said he would be “accursed” if it meant others would know Christ. Joseph used trauma as fuel to save a nation instead of destroy one. Jesus looked at the crowds, beaten down and directionless, “and He had compassion on them”—not because they earned it, but because compassion is who He is.

When God calls someone to lead, He does not first increase their skill — He enlarges their heart. He gives them the ability to see people not as they are but as they can be. Not according to their brokenness but according to their blueprint. Not based on their past but based on the future God is trying to birth through them.

A leader’s responsibility is rooted in this divine vision.

When you see a young man struggling to find his footing, God wants you to see the strength He put inside him. When you see a young woman full of insecurity, God wants you to see the destiny He wove into her soul. When you see someone failing repeatedly, God wants you to see the resilience that has kept them alive. When you see someone angry, difficult, or distant, God wants you to see the wound they hide and the healing He longs to bring.

This is why responsibility is an anointing — because responsibility is what aligns your heart with God’s.

If you cannot see the value of a person, you cannot feel the heart of God.

And if you cannot feel the heart of God, you will never understand what leadership truly is.

Leadership starts the moment you see people the way He sees them: infinitely valuable, eternally loved, deeply worth the sacrifice.

Once that realization sets in, leadership becomes something altogether different. You stop leading from pressure and start leading from purpose. You stop leading from insecurity and start leading from identity. You stop leading from ambition and start leading from affection.

Suddenly, the weight doesn’t feel like a burden; it feels like an honor. The responsibility doesn’t feel like stress; it feels like worship. The sacrifice doesn’t feel like loss; it feels like love.

Because when you serve people — truly serve them — you are serving the heart of God Himself.

It is impossible to love people deeply without loving God deeply. It is also impossible to love God deeply without loving people deeply, because He pours His love for humanity directly into the hearts of those He calls. The more you know Him, the more you feel His obsession for the world. The closer you get to His heart, the more you feel His compassion for the broken, the lost, the overlooked, and the confused.

You begin to see the world not through the lens of frustration but through the lens of redemption.

You begin to see potential everywhere — in the strong, in the weak, in the confident, in the insecure, in the disciplined, in the chaotic, in the faithful, in the faithless.

You begin to understand why Jesus spent His time with the misfits, the outcasts, the sinners, the doubters, and the desperate — not because they deserved His presence, but because they needed it.

Leadership is presence. Leadership is compassion. Leadership is investment. Leadership is responsibility.

The anointing is not for platforms; it is for people. The presence of God does not come upon you to make you spectacular; it comes upon you to make you a servant. The Spirit does not empower you so that others will see you; He empowers you so others can see Him through you.

This is the part young leaders often overlook.

They want the power but not the burden. They want the influence but not the cost. They want the success but not the sacrifice.

But God is not raising influencers; He is raising shepherds.

People do not need another celebrity. They do not need another personality. They do not need another trend. They need someone who will carry them, care for them, fight for them, believe in them, and walk with them through the darkest places of their life.

They need someone who will not run away when things get complicated.

They need someone who will not disappear when they make a mistake.

They need someone who will not judge them for their weakness but encourage them toward their strength.

They need someone who has the heart of their Father.

This is the anointing of responsibility — the calling to love deeply, to serve faithfully, to carry consistently, to protect courageously.

And make no mistake: responsibility will change you.

It will humble you. It will stretch you. It will break your pride. It will reveal your weakness. It will expose your motives. It will test your patience. It will demand your best. It will require more than you think you have.

But at the same time, responsibility will make you stronger than you ever imagined. It will deepen your compassion, sharpen your focus, refine your character, and anchor your soul. Responsibility will grow you into a leader not because you are perfect, but because you are willing.

God is searching the earth for people who are willing. Willing to serve. Willing to surrender. Willing to love. Willing to grow. Willing to step out of selfishness and into sacrifice. Willing to see the beauty in others and call them into greatness.

When you pick up the responsibility God places before you, you pick up His heart. You step into His story. You join His mission. You become part of the redemption unfolding in the lives around you.

The world will tell you leadership is about climbing ladders, but God shows that leadership is about kneeling to wash feet. The world will say it’s about being first, but Jesus says, “The last shall be first.” The world will tell you it’s about being served, but Christ says, “I did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give My life as a ransom for many.”

This is the heart of leadership. This is the weight of responsibility. This is the calling of the rising generation.

You do not lead because you want power; you lead because God loves people. You do not take responsibility because you want to be important; you take responsibility because His children matter. You do not serve because it is convenient; you serve because it is sacred.

When a leader finally understands this — when they truly grasp that God loves people more than anything in all creation — something shifts inside them forever.

They stop seeing leadership as something to achieve and begin seeing it as something to protect. They stop asking, “What can these people do for me?” and start asking, “What can I do for these people?” They stop measuring success by numbers and start measuring success by souls.

And suddenly, the duty no longer feels like duty. It feels like destiny.

This is leadership in its purest form. This is the anointing of responsibility. This is the calling of every shepherd-leader in the Kingdom of God.

And this — this right here — is what will change the world.