Accountability

Accountability- I think that word scares people.  If I tell someone my plan, I then have someone to answer to.  I have to follow through now or I will be a failure.  When I trained for my first marathon, I told several people.  I printed a 4 month running schedule, hung it up, and marked each day off.  I was accountable to the calendar but most importantly I was accountable to those I told about the race.

I need accountability in my life.  I need someone I can confess to when I eat something I shouldn't.  I need someone to confess to when I do something that is sinful.  I need someone who has been on this journey who can guide and direct me towards my goals and dreams.  

An accountability partner should be someone who is trustworthy.  Prov. 20:19  "“A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid a man who talks too much.” Someone who is always talking about other people’s personal struggles will probably betray you too. So choose wisely.  Pray about it.  Seek God and ask Him to lead you to the person you can trust with your deepest secrets and struggles.

An accountability partner should be attentive.  Someone who will make time to sit and talk with you and listen to you.  James 1:19 says, "My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry."

An accountability partner should be encouraging.  Someone who will lift you up, not condemn you.  Paul wrote, “Encourage one another and build up one another” (1 Thess. 5:11).

Accountability is good for our spiritual journey as well as taking care of our physical bodies.  God led me recently to a group of people who are strong and fit and healthy.  I hesitated because I didn't feel I would belong.  I felt lacking in so many areas.  But they embraced me.  They encourage me.  They are trustworthy.  I know they won't talk about my weaknesses when I am not around, but will exhalt my accomplishments when I meet them.  I'm pushed beyond my limits because they know there is greatness there.  They didn't just become strong and fit...they worked at it.  They banded around each other just as they are with me.  These are the types of people you want in your corner.

Accountability is good for our spiritual journey.  We all have areas that we struggle with.  A specific sin that we can't seem to break free from - pornography, overeating, cursing, gambling, etc.  There is something that pops into your mind as you read this that God is convicting you about. Something that is holding you back from experiencing all God has for you in your spiritual journey.  Find someone who meets the criteria of an accountability partner and let them hold you accountable.  

This is hard.  I know.  Opening up and trusting someone with your heart.  With your struggles.  But, God didn't put us on this journey to walk it alone.  There are people out there who have struggled as you are struggling who can encourage you and help you along your path.  

I may not be able to do 100 pushups today - but with encouragement from my peers, I know someday I will.  I may not be able to eat a healthy diet, but being told I can do it and being asked how its going keeps me from the candy!  I may not want to quit that particular sin, but knowing someone will ask me how my week went and what struggles I had will help me stand strong in the face of temptation.

Who can hold you accountable today?  What do you need to be accountable for?  Its not easy, but it will be worth it.  Remember, our lives were never meant to be lived in solitude.