Accountability

Verse of the Week

James 5:16 KJV Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

Galatians 6:1 KJV Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.

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Weekly Message

One of the key components of discipleship and living out our faith is accountability. Being accountable means being required or expected to justify our actions or decisions. Our top priority is to be accountable to God. But as the body of Christ, we must also be accountable to one another so we can live in the light and glorify our Father.

For men, though, it can be hard to open up to one another, and this can often cause us to suffer silently. Meanwhile, society is demanding strength from us even on days we don’t have it. As a result, pride can cause us to wear a mask while avoiding the type of submission to God that transforms our minds and conforms us into Christ’s image to live authentically.

It is critical for us to pray for and allow God to bring an accountability partnership that can hold us to God’s word, see and speak into our God-given identity, and point us to God while helping Him restore us if needed. Equally important is allowing God to cause us to be that for someone else. Accountability is best accomplished with vulnerability, and vulnerability is easiest when there is trust. It is easier to trust others once we’ve become trustworthy, knowing we are merely trusting the God in people.  

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Weekly prayer

Father, help me to be accountable to you, accountable to those you put me in covenant relationship with, and to be an impactful accountability partner. Help me to see those in my life the way you see them so that I can live life with them and speak to them in ways that align with who you say they are. Help me to accurately divide scripture and, by your grace, live according to the standard I hold my brothers to. And when I must correct others and even myself, help me to have your heart and to do it your way. In Jesus’ name.

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Interaction Question

Can God trust me to be a safe space and keeper of my brother?

Will my heart allow me to still see who God sees in my brother during a moment of weakness?

Can I balance having empathy for my brother and still holding him accountable?

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Written by: David Jones