Have you ever tried kicking a bad habit?
Or starting a new one? If you were unsuccessful, did you go at it alone? We need others to help encourage and strengthen us. We need others to show us our blind spots. We need others to hold us accountable.
This is true in our walk with Christ. Christian community, when it is at its best gives me the opportunity to talk to someone consistently, to share my heart and struggles, and to hear God’s words of forgiveness when I have fallen short.
My roommates and I in college would keep each other accountable. We would try our best to confess and be as honest with each other as possible about the struggles we had. And although it was not always easy, it was very beneficial. It helped in keeping each of us from some pitfalls because we knew there were others
looking out for you.
“Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”
-James 5:16
There is something so powerful in confessing to someone you know and trust. There is a freeing of the weight of the struggle, but also the strengthening to overcome the struggle. When we have someone or others who know the struggle, they are able with love to help keep us from falling again.
The enemy has done a good job of keeping us afraid, or—at the very least—apprehensive, about sharing our struggles and confessing our sins. He has used gossip and judgment to keep people stuck while holding it all in. We must not let him do this. So it is important to find those individuals who you love and trust. And to build that commitment together of helping each other grow in faith.
Find someone who can listen, encourage, challenge, and pray with you. If you do not have that person in your life, pray for God to reveal them to you. And as you begin to go through the process of sharing with and keeping each other accountable it will be awkward at first, but push through. It will be worth it!
Daily Reading: Commit to One
James 5:16
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