Why Accountability Matters and How to Get It
Accountability is “your shield against self-deception.”
Satan is a deceiver. He deceived Eve. He disguises himself as an “angel of light.”
To avoid deception, you must be totally (that means all 360 degrees) “self-aware.” You know you cannot do that. The only way to achieve that is through accountability.
I’m told that in pilot’s school, they teach future pilots the danger of vertigo in clouds and to trust NOTHING but their instruments.
Accountability is what (or who) you trust in a crisis…even when your own mind is telling you that you are fine and someone else is mistaken.
How do you find and lock down this critical piece of your future success?
1. Find a person who deals with the FACTS.
• I’m not an accountant, but I know they deal in numbers. RAW numbers. Un-inflated, cut-and-dried, unemotional, real numbers. Business people say, “The numbers don’t lie.”
• Someone I am accountable to is going to tell it to me straight. No fluff. No inflation. As cold and hard as algebra. Things have to “add up.” When they don’t, they are not afraid to stop the parade.
2. Find a person who is not afraid to be CONFRONTATIONAL.
• God called out to Adam, “Where are you?” Then He asked him, “What have you done?” Hard questions. Probing questions. Of course, he blamed it all on his wife (and ultimately God for giving her to him!).
• Find a person who will confront you, not give you some honey, Pooh Bear! Ask them to faithfully hold up the mirror to you. The mirror isn’t BAD! It shows you who you really are and the changes that need to be made to become presentable.
“Trust must be earned, not expected.”
3. Find a person who requires you to earn their TRUST.
• The “Better Business Bureau” is an accountability organization that gives people confidence to use a certain business. The fact that a business is transparent and open builds trust and confidence in their customers.
• TRUST MUST BE EARNED, NOT EXPECTED. To build trust in a marriage, you have to be accountable for your time and whereabouts for a lifetime. To build trust in a business, you have to be accountable for doing the right thing with a customer's money for a lifetime.
4. Find your Bible and read it every single day.
• The Bible is God’s “ruler,” God’s eternal accountability. There is never a time that one foot is 13 inches. There are not “Ten Suggestions.”
• Invite the Holy Spirit (the author of the Bible) to search the tiny crevices of your heart, thoughts, words and actions every single day. HERE is a great daily Bible reading plan if you need it.
Get in a small group relationship with three or four friends. In love, they will hold up the mirror, and perhaps the “ruler” of Scripture to keep you straight.
After all…who wants to be wearing the “Emperor’s new clothes?”
