Accountable

You are a pleasure-crazy kingdom, living at ease and feeling secure, bragging as if you were the greatest in the world! You say, “I’m self-sufficient and not accountable to anyone!”

Isaiah 47:8 NLT

Have you noticed how many business, professional, and leadership books have the word accountable in their titles? One bestseller, for example, is The Oz Principle: Getting Results Through Individual and Organizational Accountability.

Accountability is important for the Christian too. Sinful habits can be pleasurable and desirable, and they can be hard to break. It’s tough to do it on our own; we sometimes need to be accountable to others.

That’s why the New Testament is so full of “one another” passages—pray for one another, encourage one another, confess your sins to one another, love one another, and admonish one another. If you’re struggling with a sinful habit, covenant with a friend to be held accountable. Ask him or her to be your personal encourager and to monitor your progress.

Solomon said, “Two are better than one. . . . For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up” (Ecclesiastes 4:9–10).