What you tolerate dominates............

That sentence alone is powerful enough to make a point. What YOU tolerate will in fact overcome and overtake. That is the enemies hope. It's his insidious lie. How many of us as 'good' christians believe that we have to tolerate bad bahavior, mistreatment, unkindness, status quo, just to say we are turning the other cheek, or choosing to be content in our circumstances.  Bologna!! I am learning this lesson the hard way (which seems to be the way I learn most of my life lessons), that when I 'allow' something unacceptable in my life, such as how someone may choose to treat me, I have given the enemy a foothold. Honestly, just think about it for a minute with me. Say you have a relationship in which the other person does not treat you with respect, and belittles you and speaks down to you. Day in, and day out. It never lets up. Do you tolerate it? I am finding out that as a precious child of God, that I have value. I have worth. I am precious in God's eyes. I am loved. And if I am treasured by Him, it surely matters how I am treated by my earthly relationships. Don't ya think. I should have enough confidence and self worth to know when I am being mistreated and should not stand for it. How I approach this can be very firm but kind, and still be considered love and grace. You see when you speak the truth in love, you kick the devil in his teeth. When you stand up and fight for truth, honor and all that is good and lovely, you stop a potential cycle of defeat. 

No weapon formed against me will prosper, I am a child of the living God. I am MORE than a conqueror. I am not fighting against flesh and blood. So when I put down my foot on bad behavior from another, I am defeating an already defeated foe, from gaining a foothold in my life. Amen!!! 

Accountability........

Okay, so what thoughts do ya'll have on accountability? I would really like to know. My old church believed very strongly in accountability and having accountability groups. Confessing areas of sin and struggle, and then having someone hold you accountable as you press on to 'grow' or defeat sin areas.  I will be honest, my husband recently told me I should be accountable to someone for my actions, or for my lack of actions. I realized, you know, that means accountability is more like a drill sergeant to keep you in line. Or at least that is how he meant it, and honestly I think that is how a lot of Christians mean it. The funny thing is the more you want to 'do' well and not have any area of sin or struggle in your life the more you will, if taught this principle, embrace accountability. At least that is how I see it.......I mean why on earth do pastors need to push accountability? What are they afraid of? And why can't they learn to trust the very life of Christ that now indwells every believer? And why oh why do they constantly regard everyone after the flesh? Are we our flesh, or are we who God says we are? 

So, here is my main question, what of accountability for believers? Do we really need to confess our sins and shortcomings with others? Is it something that is clear in Scripture? What about the Holy  Spirit? I thought we could trust him to lead us into all truth. My personal opinion is that I can share my life with my friends, not just some random person that I barely know in a group setting, and let them speak openly and honestly into my life. However, I would only do this if I trust the person and know that they clearly know the truth of the Gospel and who they are in Christ. Otherwise, I may get a lot of confusing advice just to fix me. I think I will stick with the Holy Spirit as my guide, first and foremost. And when I need to talk things out with a trustworthy friend, I will. I value my friend's thoughts. I think God can use others in our life to share truth. However, I do not believe I 'have' to have accountability. Also, I would much rather have my friends speak truth into my life reminding me of who I am, despite my struggles. My hope as I speak with my friends is that I will always point their gaze upward and be of great encouragement. Not try to fix them, because in God's eyes they are already fixed. Amen!