Deal With Sin: Accountability
OPENING PRAYER:
Dear Father, your Word is a “lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” Give me courage and strength to walk obediently and within Your gift of community with Your people. Amen.
“See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” Hebrews 3:12-13 (NIV)
REFLECT:
Our devotions this week have focused on the seriousness of our sin against a relationship with a pure and holy God. We need to recognize and radically deal with a “sinful and unbelieving heart.” What we know to do and what we actually do are often two different things. How can we be more successful? According to today’s passage, the answer lies in accountability to a faithful community of “brothers and sisters.”
My most successful times of consistent exercise over the past years were when I agreed to meet my friend Larry at the YMCA on a regular basis. Knowing he would be there expecting me to show up helped get me out of bed and to the Y. This week, a young man, Travis, that I am mentoring, texted, and asked if I was coming to the meeting we scheduled (and I had forgotten). Now who is mentoring who? If you are like me, whether you are young or old, you need accountability too. Not just to show up, but also to grow.
APPLY:
If you do not have a faithful trusted friend to help “sharpen” you (Proverbs 27:17), reach out and get that going. To radically deal with sin you need honesty and encouragement. Check out Starting Point at Pathway Church. Connect in a home team. Get into a serving ministry where you can develop relationships while you serve. You need it and someone needs you. If you are already in an accountability relationship, ask yourself how honest and trusting you are being. They cannot help you if they do not know what you are struggling to overcome.
CLOSING PRAYER:
Father, I know that You built us for relationship and accountability. Please remove what is keeping me from beneficial community with fellow believers. Bring me to a faithful friend and build us up in you. Amen
CONTINUED READING:
Hebrews 10:23-25; 1 Thessalonians 5:11
WORSHIP: