Accountability

Nobody gets excited about openly sharing their failures. I for one like my world to, at least, appear to be neat, orderly and running well. I rebel against sharing my failures and mistakes. As an example it is great to have a personal trainer to improve on habits you are working on. The Trainer may have a different reaction if you purposely slacked off the training while at the same time engaging in self-destructive behaviours. Accountability should holistically react well to both instances both correcting and encouraging as you walk with another.

Being accountable is being willing to risk self. ‘Iron sharpens iron’ so being accountable to another person means both people encourage in areas they are sharp and sharpen areas of dullness. Spiritual accountability holds iron to the fire. If we are serious we will bare and share areas we have rebelled or are struggling. Our brokenness before each other encourages simply because “no sin has overtaken us but such as are common to man.”

In this life we wrestle with flesh and blood. To stay on the straight and narrow is difficult more so because our old flesh is bent toward all kinds of depravity. We are not to fight alone. One reason we are a body in Christ is that we may encourage one another as the day draws near. True accountability in loving fellowship equips us for the fight so that we can press on and celebrate that great day when we arrive.