Accountability
One sign of a very mature person is that he or she is willing to be voluntarily accountable to another person or another group of people. This shows a person who wants to break sinful habits and develop a fruitful lifestyle. This is especially true for a Christian person. It shows a serious desire to be like Jesus.
Think about the process. God knows everything we say and do, even in the privacy of our homes. He rewards or punishes us based on those words and actions, because He loves us, and He knows what will lead us to the best possible life. Most of us need help in breaking the strongholds Satan has built up in our lives over the years. We know our sins are damaging us, but we need a prayer/accountability partner to pray with us, and to ask us the hard questions. Then, if we are totally honest, and we want to become like Christ, that other person's objective view leads us to see every sin, confess it, and overcome it with the Spiritual weapons of prayer and the Word of God.(II Corinthians 10:3-6) Over time remarkable progress can be made. Sins that we thought we could never overcome are gone and forgotten. All of this comes by the power of the Spirit, but we have to cooperate with Him and other people to allow His wonderful work to be done in us.
I have an accountability partner. We meet on a weekly basis. I have always made myself accountable to the deacons and other leaders of the churches I have pastored. I encourage all of us, as believers, to enter into this type of relationship with another Christian, who loves us. It will be a great blessing to you.
Tomorrow, I intend to read II Corinthians 11-13.
Think about the process. God knows everything we say and do, even in the privacy of our homes. He rewards or punishes us based on those words and actions, because He loves us, and He knows what will lead us to the best possible life. Most of us need help in breaking the strongholds Satan has built up in our lives over the years. We know our sins are damaging us, but we need a prayer/accountability partner to pray with us, and to ask us the hard questions. Then, if we are totally honest, and we want to become like Christ, that other person's objective view leads us to see every sin, confess it, and overcome it with the Spiritual weapons of prayer and the Word of God.(II Corinthians 10:3-6) Over time remarkable progress can be made. Sins that we thought we could never overcome are gone and forgotten. All of this comes by the power of the Spirit, but we have to cooperate with Him and other people to allow His wonderful work to be done in us.
I have an accountability partner. We meet on a weekly basis. I have always made myself accountable to the deacons and other leaders of the churches I have pastored. I encourage all of us, as believers, to enter into this type of relationship with another Christian, who loves us. It will be a great blessing to you.
Tomorrow, I intend to read II Corinthians 11-13.