The Importance Accountability Part I:

Spiritual Accountability

Webster’s Dictionary:   n. The state of being accountable; liability to be called on to render an account; the obligation to bear the consequences for failure to perform as expected; accountableness.

 I'm writing first on the most important form of accountability.  Spiritual accountability.  Soon I will write on other types of accountability which are important, but secondary to our spiritual life.  

Ecclesiastes 4:8-10 is not referring to the married couple.  It is a generality—two are better than one:

 There was a man all alone;
   he had neither son nor brother.
There was no end to his toil,
   yet his eyes were not content with his wealth.
“For whom am I toiling,” he asked,
   “and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?”
This too is meaningless—
   a miserable business!
 ⁹ Two are better than one,
   because they have a good return for their labor:
¹⁰ If either of them falls down,
   one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
   and has no one to help them up.

I HATE accountability.  I LOVE accountability.  No, I’m not struggling with schizophrenia.  Or am I?  :-)

I don’t think anyone will say they like accountability.  Accountability is hard.  Who wants to give an account for their actions?  Who wants to bear the consequences for failure?  So, why do I LOVE accountability?  Because I know it’s right.  I have chosen to love it.

First, accountability is not someone else coming in and telling you what to do.  I do not mean by accountability that I have to get permission to do things or that I have to give an explanation for everything I do.

What I do mean by accountability is that I make myself vulnerable.  I allow others to know that I am not perfect, that I struggle with the flesh, and that because of those struggles, I know I need someone to hold my feet to the fire.  I need someone to question me when/if I miss church.  I need someone to ask me if I’m seeking to grow closer to God through the reading of His Word.  I need someone there to lift me up when I am down.

Recently I have had some huge spiritual battles.  I have been self-focused and due to a lot of changes in my life, more susceptible to the devil’s ploy of discouragement.  I am not typically a depressive person, it’s just not my personality, but I have been battling.  I could not get a grip over my mind.  I could think of a lot of ways to “solve my problems” that would be much easier than God’s way!

This is where accountability and vulnerability comes in.  Am I willing to humble myself and let someone know that I need help?  Maybe all I need is to be distracted.  Maybe I need to be “preached to.”  Either way, I NEED.  God made us to need people.  We are not self-sufficient.   

As I contemplated my mood, attitude, spirit, struggle—whatever you want to call it, I was reminded of the reasons why people end up doing “stupid” things.  The battles can get so intense and you can feel so lonely during those battles.  Loneliness is debilitating.  Having someone that is just a text, phone call, or email away can be a big deterrent to actually doing something “stupid”.  When I told a friend that I understood why people did "stupid things", she said “No, people do stupid things because they don’t respond rightly to these moments by getting help.”  So very true.

I’m also reminded that people have to want accountability.  You can’t force it, but you can encourage it by modeling it yourself.  I want the brothers and sisters in my church to hold me accountable.  I want them to question how I’m doing spiritually.  I want them to ask me about my absence from church.  It isn’t always easy to get up and go to church.  As a single person, I can easily talk myself out of it—especially when I’m down.  I want people to question me.  I am so prone to wander.  If I don’t have the help of fellow believers, I will wander more easily and more quickly.

It is only God’s grace that allows me to accept accountability.  Honestly, my flesh would rather not have the accountability.  But, ultimately, I want to draw closer to my Lord.  I want to live in light of the Gospel.  I want my life to be an alleluia and make a difference in others’ lives.  

The only way I am going to have any real victory in my life is if I allow the grace of God to work in my life by making myself vulnerable to my brothers and sisters in Christ and humbling myself and admitting my need for help.  So, especially as a single person, I have chosen for myself to choose to be accountable.  I have verbally asked my church leadership to hold me accountable, and I have committed to accountability with several close friends.

If you are single, I encourage you to do the same. If you are married, talk with your spouse.  Come up with an accountability plan.  If you have singles in your church and friend circle, please minister to them.  They don’t have someone there beside them to lift them up when they are down.  They need their brothers and sisters in Christ, in some ways, even more. 

Practical Help:
Sit down and email 5 of your closest friends.  Ask them if they would be willing to ask you specific and revealing questions on a regular basis.

Look around your assembly.  Find someone that needs a friend and befriend them.  Develop a relationship with them.  Minister to them.  They may be on the brink of "doing something stupid" and in desperate need of a friend.