shoulder pointing out to you why you shouldn't make whatever dumb decision you're about to make?
At one point in college, I was going through a bit of a rough time and as a result, I wasn't reading my Bible or praying – I was just going through the motions. One of my roommates called me on it. To this day, I can still hear her telling me that I needed to change – "Good Christian girls can get pregnant before they're married, pastors can have affairs and leave their families..." If you don't live for God daily, you can end up like that too…
Sometimes we don't recognize how things in our lives are impacting us. We need friends were willing to call us out on things and hold us accountable to keep us on the right track.
But don't just take my word for it, check out what the Bible has to say. We're going to take a look at the end of the familiar story – David and Bathsheba. Read 2 Samuel 11. (I highly recommend you stand and read it, so your eyes don't start to glaze over and you don't come to the end and realize you haven't really read anything… but I won't force you to...)
So quick recap, David doesn't go off to war like he's supposed to, he sees Bathsheba bathing, has an affair with her, and gets her pregnant. Then he tries to cover it up by getting her husband to sleep with her, her husband's a respectable guy and refuses, so David has him killed. David then marries Bathsheba and she gives birth to a son. (Sweet little shout out to Judges in verse 21 #sundayschool)
That is some background information for the part of the story I want to focus on. David's in a bit of a rough spot. He's committed some dastardly acts in the last chapter, and since Bathsheba had the baby, at least nine months have passed. In chapter 12, we are going to see David's buddy, Nathan, confront him and hold him accountable for what he's done.
Read 2 Samuel 12:1–6. So Nathan uses some tact in how he approaches David. He uses a parable to get David fired up about this blatant injustice. David wants the guy to pay!
Read 2 Samuel 12:7-12. Nathan tells David he's that guy! He's the one who has done this. Nathan points out specifically what David did, then he tells him the punishment the Lord will bring upon him.
Read 2 Samuel 12:13-14. David repents and as a result, the Lord lessons the punishment intended for David.
We confront friends and hold them accountable because we love them. Why, because were commanded to: "Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself." (Gal. 6:1 NLT)
Now a word to the one being held accountable… It is for your own good! "So then the each of us will give account of himself to God." (Rom. 14:12 ESV) One day we will all face God and be accountable for all our actions. There are plenty of times I've screwed up (and I'm sure you have too), so if I can spare myself more judgment, I want to. If I know I tend to sin in a certain area, I want someone to come alongside me and help me out.
What does Prov. 12:15 say about accountability?
How about Prov. 27:17?
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This is a devotional I wrote for the teens on the Ecuador missions trip. Our theme for the devotionals is "We _____ because we love." We came up with a list of 11 (one for each day), and this is one I was assigned.
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