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Are you accountable to anyone? Most of us have people to whom we are accountable in some way or another—such as our boss, or our mate, or our parent.  But are you accountable to anyone as to your Christian walk and testimony?

The ultimate accountability, of course, will be the Judgment Seat of Christ, when all believers will stand before Jesus to give an account of the stewardship of their lives here on earth.  We read in 2 Corinthians 5:10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”  If you and I want to hear “Well done, good and faithful servant” when we stand at the Judgment Seat of Christ, we need to have accountability partners and methods to help us live as we should.

Having someone to whom you are accountable, and vice versa, just means that you agree to regularly—perhaps weekly—talk and pray together and ask some questions that are designed to hold your feet to the fire, so to speak.  To remind you to make the main thing the main thing. To encourage and help you. Here are some examples of good accountability questions:

  • Have you spent consistent time with God this week?

This is perhaps the one area where most of us could use some accountability, because it’s so easy for us to skip our time in the Word and prayer, especially when no one knows that we’ve skipped it.  No one, that is, except Jesus!  We definitely need accountability in this area.

  • Have you compromised your integrity in any way this week?

This question reminds us that our lives should be squeaky clean when it comes to telling the truth.  It helps us think about whether we’ve been deceptive in any way, or cut corners inappropriately.

  • Did you treat your peers and coworkers with respect and kindness?

And that includes those peers and coworkers who aren’t easy to like.

  • Did you control your tongue this week?

Learning to talk less and listen more is a challenge, and we need someone to hold us accountable—we need to hold ourselves accountable to control what we say.

Can you see how asking these probing questions could really help you?  I know how much I need to be reminded to do what I should do, and accountability checkups are very helpful.