STEP 10:  Find an Accountability Friend

You increase your ability, stability and responsibility when you increase your sense of accountability to God. One way you can do this is to find another believer who will be your accountability friend.

What is an accountability friend? It is a mature Christian who agrees to disciple you, to help you grow and mature in your new faith in Christ. It is someone who agrees to hold you accountable, someone who will help you carry through on what you determine to do.

If you tell your accountability friend that you are going to have a quiet time every morning for half an hour, he or she will call you later in the day and ask if you did. An accountability friend makes sure that you do all that you told God you would do.

But the accountability street goes both ways. Frequently two people will be accountability friends for each other. They will hold each other up and lift each other up when they need a lift. And if one should fall, the other will help him or her up.

There is a striking image of this in Ecclesiastes 4:9,10: "Two are better than one . . . For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up."

This principle works not only when you take a physical tumble but also when you have a weakness in the spiritual realm. If you have an accountability friend, you know that someone is there for you when you stumble, someone who will help you to keep from falling. For example, if you lose your enthusiasm in your walk with the Lord and become lukewarm, your accountability friend can take you aside and kindly, sincerely warn you that you are in spiritual danger.

An ancient proverb from the Near East says, "A friend is one who warns you." But an accountability friend, a true friend, never stops with a warning. He will also pray with you, encourage you and guide you back on the right track. That's what accountability friends are for.

Friends don't just criticize, they help. A true friend doesn't sympathize with your weakness; he helps you summon your strength. When you and another Christian make a commitment to be accountable to each other, the best will be brought out in both of you.

A FINAL WORD

Have you recently come to Christ as your Saviour? If so, it is important for you to start your Christian life right. Now that you have new life, you need to grow; for growth is as important as birth. What a tragedy it would be if a tiny baby were to remain small all of his life. But it would be equally tragic if you had been born again but never would grow spiritually.

These ten steps for the new Christian do not constitute a magical formula. But they are derived from God's Word and have been successfully practiced by mature Christians for generations.

If you take these first steps on the road to heaven, you'll find the journey to be a challenge and a blessing. But more than that, your first steps will not be your last. God bless you as you step out for Him.

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