Dan Gould

Tag: Accountability

  • Stirring – Accountability

    “As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.” Proverbs 27:17 (NLT)

    When I was 18 this verse was grained in me by my Youth Pastor. He modeled and taught me how important accountability is.  When we look at this verse, it sounds simple!  We all want and have friends.  But this verse goes deeper than just a simple Friendship.  For iron to be sharpened it has to have some kind of friction that make it sharper.  For you to be the person God has created you to be, and then to do the things he is calling you to do, you need to have people in your life that can and will hold you accountable.  These are people you trust. People that love you unconditionally.  These are people you give permission to ask you the hard questions.  You need people that create Godly friction in your life so you will become more like Christ.

    The fact is, we need these people in our life.  Our relationship with Jesus is a personal one, but it’s not intended to be a private one. We need people to help us see the things we don’t see.  We need people to help us own the things that we want to hide.  We need people to hold us up, when we are fighting sin and feel weak. We need people to encourage us with words of life!

    I have been blessed with some great men of God that have held me accountable.  I am in a group right now that is holding me accountable to these 10 things:

    • Have I spent daily time in the Scriptures and in Prayer?
    • Have I had any flirtatious or lustful attitudes, tempting thoughts, or exposed myself to any explicit materials which would not glorify God?
    • Have I been completely above reproach in my financial dealings?
    • Have I spent quality relational time with family and friends?
    • Have I done my 100% best in my job?
    • Have I told any half truths or outright lies, putting myself in a better light to those around me?
    • Have I shared the Gospel with an unbeliever this week?
    • Have I taken care of my body through daily physical exercise and proper eating/sleeping habits?
    • Have I allowed any person or circumstances to rob my joy?
    • Have I lied on any of these answers today?

    Accountability is risky! It makes you vulnerable!  But it doesn’t work unless you are truthful and ask for it.  I can tell you several stories of people, men and women, who have fallen because of a lack of accountability.  Some of these people even had great, Godly people in their lives, but they didn’t allow anyone to love them, ask the hard questions, and help them become the person God created them to be. But I can also tell you stories of victory.  Where someone seeks accountability and God changes that person from the inside out and goes on to use them in great ways.

    Here is the point, God is more concerned with Who you Are, than what You Do!  Many times we forget this and miss the most important things in being a Christ Follower . . . becoming like Christ ourselves.  We need each other and together we can be the people God has created us to be.

    “Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. 10 If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.”
    Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (NLT)

    Today, will you be a person that tries to do this on your own, or will you invite others in so you can be the person God has created you to be?

  • Change . . . It has to happen

    Like I said yesterday, I’ve been thinking a lot about some of the simple changes that can be made in my personal life that can lead to living healthier and longer.  It’s ironic that we are talking about developing spiritual habits on the weekends with our students and today I am talking about changing some habits in my personal life.  Here are the four areas that I want to change in order to have a healthier, longer life:

    1. Sleeping Habits – I have been bad about not getting enough sleep at night.  I typically go to bed late and get up early averaging about 5.5 hours of sleep.  I am going to try to add 2 hours of sleep each night.  This shouldn’t be too hard, I just need to go to bed and hour early and then allow myself to sleep in an hour later.  That sounds pretty easy but I am sure it will have challenges.  I guess the other option would be to take a nap in the afternoon.  I understand this is an ideal, life doesn’t always happen this way but if I don’t have something to aim for I will miss it every time.
    2. Eating Habits – I haven’t ever really watched my eating habits.  I have been fortunate enough to have a high metabolism, that is unfortunately slowing down with age, so I have pretty much eaten and drank what ever I wanted.  I was the kid in High School that ate a little debbie brownie for breakfast topped off with a glass of coke.  In college I was the guy that went with his roommate to Burger King at midnight to get 99 cent Whoppers.  This will probably be the most challenging.  I have cut caffeine out of my diet once before and it wasn’t that bad, but I came back to it.  I am on day 3 of no caffeine right now and feel like I can kick it again.  I am also going to try to eat healthier.  There are some little changes I can make that will have huge results, so I am optimistic to see what happens.
    3. Exercising Habits – I haven’t been the best here, there can be several days go by without me really having any kind of activity for more than 12 minutes.  My goal here is to add 30 minutes of activity everyday.  This helps bring up your good cholesterol and bring down your bad cholesterol.  Which in affect makes your heart healthier.  This is probably what my body needs the most and will demand probably the most discipline.
    4. Work Habits – I’ll admit it, I am a workaholic, mostly because I love what I do.  There isn’t much time that goes by that I am not thinking about student ministry or the church.  I think it’s just the way I am wired . . . or the way I have programed myself.  However, if I am going to change and create other habits, there are some things that I am sure need to change here also.  I don’t know exactly what that looks like yet, but I am sure after some talks with my wife, (she will be real honest with me) and our student staff, we can come up with a plan and empower others to take on some new aspects of ministry.

    This weekend we talk about accountability and why we need it.  If you’re a reader of the blog feel free to hold me accountable to the things I have just listed.