Marriage from A to Z

“Do you have accountability?”

“I need you, you need me, we are all apart of God’s body.”  These words came to mind as I thought about what it means to have accountability.  We need each other, and we can help each other to accomplish the goals and plans that God has for us.  For none of us lives for ourselves alone. . . (Romans 14:7)  Do you have accountability in your life?  This week, I want you to think about an area in your life where you may need some accountability or where God may want you to be a help by providing accountability for someone else.

So what does it mean to be accountable?  The dictionary defines it this way; “subject to the obligation to report, explain, or justify something, responsible; answerable, capable of being explained.”

Why do we need accountability?  I don’t know about you, but some goals I would not have accomplished if it wasn’t for accountability.  I was able to write my first book because I had good accountability.  One friend gave me the challenge of writing 20 pages a month and called me once a month to hold be accountable.  I must admit, the first month, I didn’t have one page written and was embarrassed.  I couldn’t allow that to happen the next month, so I decided to write and have 20 pages ready for the next accountability call.

Pray about having an accountability partner for different things that you want to accomplish.  I believe that God will connect you with someone who is willing to be committed to helping you.  It is great when that person is trying to accomplish the same goal so that you can hold each other accountable.  Also, when a person has already accomplished what you are trying to do, they can help because they already know what it takes.

I have also found that it is helpful to have different accountability partners for different things.  Other areas where accountability has worked for me:

1.  Exercise:  I have a friend who loves to walk, so I connect with her to achieve my walking goals.
2. Eating:  I have a friend who will check in with me on eating healthy and to ask about portion control.
3. Fasting:  Most of the times when I fast, I let a friend know who will fast with me or hold me accountable to sticking to the fast.
4. Spiritually:  I believe in having a sister who will check in to hold me accountable to doing the right thing, praying and staying in the word.
5. Marriage:  My husband and I have an accountability couple that we check in with on a regular basis to make sure that we doing what we need to be doing as a husband and wife.
6. Work:  When there are projects or things to accomplish at work, I may ask someone to please check in with me to hold me to getting it done in a timely fashion.

Perhaps you are so disciplined and feel that you don’t need accountability.  If that is the case, take the time to help another sister or brother by providing accountability for them.  I believe that we all need to be accountable to somebody!

Until next week . . .

Carolyn