'Duty' - Not a Four Letter Word

I have been trying to shake it out of my mind but my last post and some of the responses to it have left some concern about the definition of 'duty'. The way some talk about 'duty' you might think it is a four letter word used deride or diminish. Nothing could be further from the truth as all things of value find that value in duty.

Webster - Duty: obligatory tasks, conduct, service or functions that arise from one's position (as in life or a group); a moral and legal obligation and the force of those obligations.

Duty is a term that conveys a moral commitment to someone or something. It is not passive but active, it involves a choice to place the interests of others above one's own interest. Duty then is an expression of self-denial that results from one's commitments to others.

In my post on Christians, Intimacy and Sex, I pointed out that intimacy and sex are a duty in marriage. When you are married there is the obligation to one another to engage in self-sacrifice to meet each other's needs and wants. It is part of the process of becoming one flesh to give up what I feel I should do and instead do the right thing to become more intimate and one-flesh in nature. The point of it is that it is not my duty to point out my wife's duty to me, but to fulfill my own to her. Part of that should involve communication to her and my needs and wants (in a sense this is part of my duty as well, as my wife can't fulfill her duties to me if she does not know my needs and wants) but it is on my wife and her sense of duty to fulfil them once she knows them. Duty does not involve selfishness in this case but self-sacrifice. The very essence of what Paul is saying in 1 Corinthians 7:3 and 4 is fulfilling duty in one direction but giving authority in the opposite one. The husband must fulfill the duty to his wife but gives up authority over his own body to her. The reverse is also true. Mutual surrender of self and mutual obligation are what is expected in marriage as part of a covenant relationship and it is duty that ultimately is the driving force of that covenant.

Another great illustration involves military service. Men and women when they choose to serve, give up their rights as citizens to protect citizens of a country. Duty compels them to serve something greater than themselves above their own interests and safety.

Duty then becomes a significant cornerstone of things like: devotion, honor, love and faithfulness. Feelings will come and go, but a sense of duty transcends feelings and causes a person to sacrifice self interest for the sake of something bigger or higher.