The "A" Word

I’m talking about accountability here.

I never thought I would write about this, much less have it be a big part of my life. (Also, the word accountability is so clunky and sounds buttoned up with a tie and jacket. It’s stuffy…but I digress.)

I really don’t want people knowing all my junk. It’s personal. It’s mine.

It’s selfish.

I like to be independent, because let’s be honest, I can handle life on my own, right?

Though that’s crazy, that’s how I tend to think.

How does that cause me to be closer to Christ? If no one knows my weaknesses and checks in once and a while, what stops me from messing up?

Nothing.

It’s obvious that our “wills” aren’t strong enough to choose the right things all the time, that’s why we mess up.

I’ve slowly gotten past the disdain for wanting anyone to check on me daily and have been accountable to a friend for a few months now. We text each other every day when we’ve read and spent time with God. Before this, I usually got it done, but the days I didn’t, I had no reason to make sure it never happened again. I was the only one who knew. I had no plan to move forward instead of having a mediocre, part-time relationship with Christ. Now, I look forward to reading and sharing what God is showing me…EVERY day!

Even though I was apprehensive about having to “report” every day to someone who might find out that I was human and mess up sometimes, I’m pushing past that.

I’m finding that accountability is a HUGE un-tapped resource we have available to us. It’s FREE, and more people want it (and desperately need it) more that they’d ever admit. Even though it can be uncomfortable to start, the rewards are so great! There’s freedom! There’s growth! There’s joy! There’s closer friendships! There’s quality relationships!

Think about who in your church family, small group, etc., is like-minded and would be willing to grow with you in pursuit of Jesus.

If you really want to be closer to Christ- I mean, you really want to be like Him and have every area aligned to Him, find someone asap to be accountable to/with.

Have you even been accountable to/with anyone? How has it helped you?