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by Dennis and Barbara Rainey

The Benefits of AccountabilityEphesians 5:21
And be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.

Back in the 1800s, a husband in a village of Pennsylvania Quakers was beating his wife. The other men in the village decided to take action. One man wrote, “…a bunch of us men went over there and took all of his clothes off and drug him through a field of thistles backwards. Then we told him, if he continued to deal unkindly with his wife, we were not going to take to it very lightly. We were going to get upset next time.”I’m not advocating such extreme measures when I encourage you to be accountable to other people. But I do think there are many benefits to it.

Look again at Ephesians 5:21 (above). People don’t like the phrase “be subject to one another” these days. The independent “give me my rights” spirit in America conflicts with the thought of being subject to other people.

But accountability helps you in so many ways. For one thing, it helps protect you-from isolation, from pride, from sin, from giving in to temptation and weakness. One of the best ways I know to protect you from those weaknesses is to let someone know about them and ask that person to keep you accountable.

My friends Stu and Linda Weber shared how they were driving in a blizzard on a dangerous, narrow road in the mountains when their car spun out of control. Just as they were about to slide over the edge and to their deaths, the car smashed into a guardrail. That guardrail is just like a friend who can protect us from disaster and even death.

Accountability also helps you avoid extremes. Without someone who can give you an objective evaluation of who you are and what you do, you will have a difficult time keeping balance in your life. For example, if you are accountable to someone for your goals, that person can help you decide if your goals are realistic and how you should spend your time attempting to meet them.

A final benefit is that it can help you stay focused on your dreams. Are you getting so caught up in the minutia of life that you are not accomplishing what you feel like God called you to do? Nothing may help you more than to define your goals and stay accountable to someone for reaching them.

Accountability is absolutely essential if we are to experience all that God has created us to be and to do.

 

 

Prayer:

That God will lead you to some people who will love you enough to protect you and help you stay focused on what God wants to do through you.

Discuss: How would you personally benefit from accountability?

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