HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 20
page A18
Accountability See also Boundaries; Commitment; Convictions;
Discipline; Honesty & Integrity; Priorities; Self-Control
Accountability is giving an account of yourself to someone—where you’ve been, what
you’ve been doing, who you’ve been with, how you will perform a certain task, or what
your motives are. The one who is holding you accountable has the freedom, perhaps the
right, to ask for a report. But don’t most of us resent it when we are fully accountable?
We may feel that it restricts us and forces us to expose dark corners of our lives we’d
prefer to keep hidden.
Although genuine accountability may be uncomfortable, it’s necessary, for it keeps
us honest, moral, and on the right path. It urges us to do what we should do, even if
we prefer not to. If we answer to no one, aren’t we free to go where our desires lead
rather than where God leads—a dangerous game? Bosses may or may not do a good
job of holding their employees accountable. Parents may or may not always do such a
good job of holding their children accountable. How well do you hold yourself accountable to someone else? When we think no one is watching or no one will ask us tough
questions, it’s easy to do whatever we want. We are more prone to take the wrong
path. But God is watching and he does hold us accountable. Fortunately, his motives
are always pure. He wants to help us do what is good and what is best for us. If what
we should do is not what we want to do, it is time to discover what God wants us
to do.
A
What kinds of things am I accountable for?
HelpFinder
• J O H N 3 :1 8 -1 9 | “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone
who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and
only Son. And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but
people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.”
• J O H N 3 :3 6 | “And anyone who believes in God’s Son has eternal life. Anyone who
doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry
judgment.”
• MAT T H E W 3 :8 | “Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned
to God.”
You are accountable for your own disobedience to God.
• 2 K I NG S 1 2 :1 5 | No accounting of this money was required from the construction supervisors, because they were honest and trustworthy men.
• 2 K I NG S 2 2 :7 | “But don’t require the construction supervisors to keep account of the
money they receive, for they are honest and trustworthy men.”
You are accountable for your own character.
• PR O V E R B S 5 :1 3 | Oh, why didn’t I listen to my teachers? Why didn’t I pay attention to my
instructors?
You are accountable for your own spiritual growth.
• MAT T H E W 1 2 :3 6 | “And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every
idle word you speak.”
You are accountable for the words you speak.
• L U K E 1 2 :4 3 -4 7 | If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good job, there
will be a reward. . . . But what if the servant thinks, ‘My master won’t be back for a while,’
and he begins beating the other servants, partying, and getting drunk? . . . A servant who
knows what the master wants, but isn’t prepared and doesn’t carry out those instructions,
will be severely punished.
You are accountable for the work you are given to do.
• 1 T I MOT H Y 6 :1 7 | Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust
in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all
we need for our enjoyment.