Wednesday, January 22

The Bible teaches us that our relationship with God is personal and intimate, like that of a father and son or a husband and wife. Yet, even though it’s personal and intimate it’s not private. We are accountable to each other. Accountability simply stated is to be responsible to a person or group of persons. This is nothing new. Every day we are held accountable by people we don’t know or even like… at school, at our jobs, with the credit companies, even in our families. But when we talk about accountability in our spiritual lives the tendency is to resist, and say, “my relationship with God is private.” Nothing could be further from the truth. God in His wisdom made us the body and Jesus the head, and you can’t separate one from the other. We are all accountable to Jesus and to each other.

Accountability is one of the most important tools that God uses to help us grow spiritually. We can see the benefits of accountability in business or in sports. It’s why business people have mentors, it’s why athletes have trainers, because they know it benefits their growth.

Would you consider inviting a person or a group of persons to help you grow spiritually? And, would you be willing to be completely honest with them?

Bible Reading
1 Corinthians 12:24-26

But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

Heavenly Father, help me grow. Help me understand that my relationship with you is not private, that I should be held accountable as part of the body of Christ.