Praise God for Randy and Nancy Parsons who, year after year, plan for and host Family Fun Day among us. Well done, again! Thanks to Danielle Williams, our Outreach Director, for promoting the event and overseeing our back to school giveaway. Thanks to Susan McGough for overseeing our clothing giveaway. Thanks to Craig Gobel for being our DJ! Thanks, too, to the countless volunteers who served food, hauled tables and chairs, manned inflatables, painted faces, registered new friends, picked up trash, and prayed for people we met. To God be the glory!
Hebrews 12:1 “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us…”
What are the ways we can get weighed down and trapped by temptation and sin when we try to do life on our own?
1. Sin and heavy stuff can ensnare us when we face temptation on our own.
Self-confidence and self-preservation are very attractive to Satan. He loves to target people who think “It could never happen to them.”Galatians 6:1-3 1 Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. 2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
Watch yourself, or you could also be tempted. None of us is above temptation. We can be easily deceived by our own selves. We can think we are stronger, more spiritual and more mature than we are, and when we try to walk life alone and handle temptation on our own and when we don’t let godly, mature people into our lives to help hold us accountable to God’s standard of living, it’s easy to fail and fall.
2. Sin and heavy stuff can ensnare us when we face trials on our own.
We all will face tough times in life which can weigh you down. Letting people into those moments makes you accountable to them for how you will process the tough times, how you will exercise faith in God and in His Word, and what you will and won’t turn to for comfort.
One of the reasons you and I are put on this earth is so that someone can lean on us. Galatians 6:2 tells us to bear someone’s burden, and when we do we fulfill the law of Christ. There will be times when you will be the “leaner” and other times when you will be the “leanee.” Even Jesus didn’t live life on His own. He walked with at least the twelve disciples and others who were present in the company of the disciples from time to time. He shared parts of His emotional journey with them.
3. Sin and heavy stuff can entangle us when we rely only on our own perspective.
Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”
Sometimes the role accountability plays in our lives is that it assists us in finding freedom from our own faulty thinking. Sometimes we need someone to say to us, “That sounds crazy! What in the world? What are you thinking?”
I don’t think anyone correctly know themselves without the help of other people.
Accountability is not so much about confrontation as it is consultation. Getting other godly people’s input and advice can help us become our best for God.
Share something with someone today, and ask for their prayers, encouragement, and support. You will discover the power of accountability.
Pastor Melissa
