Accountability

Many people have found a tremendous opportunity to grow and study during these difficult and strenuous times we are living in. Others have faltered and fallen into bad habits in regards to faith, or biblical community. Those people may find that their devotion has suffered during this current season but the spiritual discipline for this week remains the same for both demographics.

What's Accountability All About?

       The word accountability is one that is in reference to finding someone that you can be transparent about your current journey with Christ about and then be open to them challenging you to continue in your growth.... or start to take your growth seriously in the first place. So what does that have to do with "SHALOM"? Well I don't know about you, but when I experience victory in my personal walk with Christ, I tend to be in a better mood about my life with God and even the way I see the world around me. The reality is that we tend to get distracted when we try to do these things on our own and so having someone hold us accountable gives us the best chance at being in SHALOM.

Will Anyone Do?

       So who should your accountability partner be? A good starting point would be someone that you already talk to on a regular basis. This can mean something different for people based on the way they walk through life. For instance, I personally find little value in having my wife as my accountability partner for a number of reasons and instead find that when I talk to minister friends of mine I am more inclined to be transparent about how I feel or where I have failed. On the contrary I have seen married couples do an amazing job of making sure that one another is on a consistent growth arc because of their relationship. So this really is a personal journey, it could be a friend, a co-worker, a family member, a neighbor, a CCLC friendship, or any number of other options. The important thing is that you already have a clear line of communication between you and the other person.

Here are some practical ways to find accountability:

1) Set up a weekly time to talk ONLY about Christ and your relationship with Him.

2) Find something that you can both read through together in scripture

3) work on some weekly discipline (like the ones I put up here every week) that you can both work on.

4) BE HONEST about the ways you are failing, this is the place that the majority of your growth will come from (personal sin, spiritual disconnect, emotional issues, etc.)

5) Set input goals instead of output goals: (ex. I will read every day.... instead of I will read 30 verses every day) this will do a better job of constantly motivating you because of measurable success.