Accountability

Re:Verse passage – Nehemiah 10:28-30 (day four)

I have to confess, I have a hard time keeping myself accountable to my goals and convictions on my own. I go through this every January, and then again around this time of year. I have new spiritual convictions or goals in mind, and I start with good intentions, but I often can’t seem to motivate myself to keep at it. Eventually, the things of daily life choke out my once strongly held convictions and I fall back into old patterns. As much as it frustrates me, I am simply not strong enough on my own to accomplish these things.

You know what changes this pattern, though? Stating my goals in front of others. Attaching my name to a goal where others can see it. Including my community in my spiritual formation and personal growth. Now, it’s not just me, myself, and I keeping me accountable, but a community of people who want grow with me.

When the people under Nehemiah’s care signed the document, they were boldly and publicly attaching their name to a goal for holiness. No, simply signing a document doesn’t mean you’re sure to accomplish that goal, but it’s certainly a step in the right direction to maintain public accountability. If the people slipped back into a life of sin, others in the community could remind them of the document with their name on it and the life they are called to. It’s not foolproof, but it is helpful. How might you employ a similar kind of accountability in your own life?