Victory Through Accountability

Pride, Lust, Greed, Fear, Worry, Pornography, Lying, Cheating, Gossip, Fantasies, Debt, Selfishness, Drugs, Alcoholism, Smoking, Over Eating, Laziness, Lack of Prayer and Lack of Bible Study. What do all of these words have in common? They are all forms of sin that separate us from God, build walls that keep us apart from others and they keep us from achieving our goals.

There are two was for us to be delivered from the sins that we have in our lives. 1. God could instantly deliver us. 2. God could deliver us through us having a relationship with another person. There are instances in the Bible where God delivered people instantly but most of the time God delivers us a step at a time in a relationship with someone else.

In Exodus 14 God delivered the Israelites in a dramatic way by dividing the Red Sea so that they escape the Egyptian army. Most of the time God does not deliver us in this type of victory. He gives us Victory by having another person come into our life and giving us encouragement to fight the good fight and keep overcoming.

Proverbs 12: 25  Worry weighs us down; a cheerful word picks us up.
Proverbs 12: 15 Fools are headstrong and do what they like; wise people take advice.

Ecclesiastes: 9 It's better to have a partner than go it alone. Share the work, share the wealth. And if one falls down, the other helps, But if there's no one to help, tough!

Isaiah 1: 17 Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the orphan. Fight for the rights of the widows.

1 Thessalonians 4: 18 Therefore encourage each other with these words. 

1 Thessalonians 5: 11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

Hebrews 3: 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

James 5: 19-20 My dear friends, if you know people who have wandered off from God's truth, don't write them off. Go after them. Get them back and you will have rescued precious lives from destruction and prevented an epidemic of wandering away from God.

Why do we need accountability?

1. Satan, our enemy, loves to see us stumble and be alone.

2.The world is closely watching us.

3. To remain right with God.

4. It encourages other believers and ourselves.

What happens when we are accountable?

1. We grow in our Christian walk.

2. We deepen our Friendships.

3.We gain greater awareness.

4. We begin to set priorities.

5. We find peace.

True Christian Accountability is encouraging and life changing. There is no room for put downs or shaming. We are to let the Holy Spirit to be the one who does the convicting. Our job is to be used to encourage the one we are holding accountable. Satan likes to condemn and shame but God convicts and leads us to repentance through His Kindness.

Romans 2: 4 You didn't think, did you, that just by pointing your finger at others you would distract God from seeing all your misdoings and from coming down on you hard? Or did you think that because he's such a nice God, he'd let you off the hook? Better think this one through from the beginning. God is kind, but he's not soft. In kindness he takes us firmly by the hand and leads us into a radical life-change.

I encourage you to find another man that you can trust and who you want to experience this incredible life changing experience with. Ask them to hold you accountable and ask them what you can hold them accountable for. Together you will experience Victory through Accountability. 

For more information go to the following websites:

All About God 

Men of Integrity

Understanding and Developing Christian Accountability 

Character That Counts 

Books:

Character Counts by Rod Hanley 

Other Books 

Videos

Character Counts