Accountability

“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”

‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭4‬:‭9‬-‭12‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Being accountable to another person or persons is very important.  Why?  There are moments that happen that can be taken out of context and without someone else being with you to hold you accountable for your actions and to keep the truth, the story about that moment may be spread wrongly because of assumptions.  This means, don’t go out into the world alone.

As a guy, having other guy friends who can keep us accountable for good, checking in on each other, and making sure we are on the right path in life, is a good thing.

In a marriage, your spouse, whom you should love and trust, and should be your best friend, can also be an accountability partner, making sure you are doing the right things, acting a certain way, and saying the right things around kids, for example.

As the scripture above says, two are strong, but three are stronger.  Now, this could mean you have a couple of accountability partners, creating a great network of support and protection.  But if you have one other person, who can, and will always be your third person?

Jesus Christ. 

Jesus should always be the leader of your accountability team. Making Jesus a part of your daily walk in life and including Him in everything creates a level of accountability.  Now, he may not be the friend that physically steps in front of you and tells you to stop doing something, but the Holy Spirit in you will tug at you to stop.  If you are in line with Jesus in your life, that tug will be pretty obvious.  But as believers and Christians, we are given free will, and we still have a choice to make at that moment.

If you struggle with needing to be held accountable for your actions, and you can’t always have a friend with you, or you call them and they are not available, then you need to lean on Jesus.  But don’t put Jesus second.  He should be first.

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭33‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭8‬:‭5‬ ‭ESV‬‬

First and foremost, lean on and turn to Jesus Christ as your accountability partner.  He will then send you one here on earth, someone in the flesh who can physically be your accountability partner.  Don’t go at things alone.  There is no need to.  Even if you think it’s something you have to do to achieve something, or be recognized by someone, don’t do it alone.

Look at long-distance trail runners.  Every one of them does it for different reasons.  Some of them do it for selfish reasons, while some may do it for charity, for others.  No matter their motivation or reason, they all have teams.  They have people who are there supporting them from start to finish.

God is your team leader.  He will help you build your team.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭3‬:‭5‬ ‭ESV‬‬