So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. – Romans 14:12
When we become Christians, we have great privileges. We have forgiveness and redemption. We have peace with God and a relationship with Him. But these privileges demand accountability. Accountability is “being subject to giving an answer or an explanation.” In other words, accountability is being asked, “Why did you do this?” or “How did you spend that?” Each of us is accountable to someone, and spiritually we are all accountable to God. As our focus verse says, “every one of us shall give an account of himself to God.”
Accountability is good for us. Let’s illustrate a little. Most of us are familiar with freeway driving. Many of our cities have good freeways, and we can get on and expect to drive to our destination quickly. Sometimes the traffic rolls right along. Signs are posted telling the speed limit or giving other directions such as lane controls. But when there’s not much traffic and things are flowing pretty well, hardly anyone seems to pay attention to the signs. Sometimes the flow of traffic moves along several miles an hour over the speed limit.
All of the sudden, a police car comes onto the freeway. What happens to traffic? Whoo! Brake lights go on. Everybody slows right down and obeys the signs. They make sure they are driving in the right lane and doing exactly what they’re supposed to be doing. The officer’s presence brings accountability, and the accountability suddenly brings discipline.
Spiritual accountability is good for us because it also promotes self-discipline. God’s plan of accountability is a blessing, and if we follow it we will be better Christians.
God’s Word is the final authority, and we alone are accountable for what we do with the instructions found there. We are responsible for our relationship with God and the discipline we exert to obey Him. Someday we are going to stand before Him, and He is going to ask, “Where have you been? What have you been doing?” We will want to have followed the instructions of the Bible and to have been certain that we have lived according to His will.