Living with accountability is more than what it seems. True accountability is a team effort between two players.
Yeah, of course there's the accountability of the Sunday to Sunday basis. "Where were you last week", or "Why didn't you come to church this morning". The surface accountability. Or when somebody calls you out because you misspoke or disrespected somebody. That's a general accountability that many people have.
But do you have true accountability?
1 Thessalonians 5:11 states: “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”
Not only are we supposed to encourage one another, but we're supposed to gain wisdom, strength, and advice from others.
Check out James 5:16:
“Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”
Confess my sins? To another person? Um...no. I can't do that. They might think less of me. ...They might think I'm a bad person that does wrong....they might think I'm.....human.
See, we as human beings are bad at trusting. Somehow, we got to the point where we think we can't let anybody know our failures, because that wouldn't be normal. Last time I checked, we all fail. That's what makes us normal. What's abnormal is when we think that letting people know our faults will make us the odd ones out.
When was the last time you told somebody "Hey...I'm struggling with this, and I need you to help me pray about it" ..?
When was the last time you were completely honest with somebody, not holding anything back, told them everything?
Do you have a specific person in your life that you talk to? Maybe on a daily basis? That keeps you accountable in certain areas of your life?
The reason I use rhetoric to make people think is because I've been there. I've been in a stage in my life with no accountability; once you become accountable, you realize that it's freeing, not restricting.
When you have somebody that you talk to on a continual basis that asks you probing questions as to how you're doing (spiritual walk, temptations, bible reading, prayer, *fill in blank with virtually anything*), it helps you throughout the day.
I know that I will be calling my mentor tonight, and I have to be 100% honest with them. If I fail, they don't look down on me, but helps me through it. But during the day, the fact that I will be talking to somebody gives me strength to avoid temptation and press towards the mark of the high calling of God. Every day.
That gets me through the day. :)
Proverbs 12:15
