Accountability in the life of Jesus Christ

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ! Welcome to “Daily Word for Spiritual Edification”!

We are still talking about the importance and power of accountability in the life of every person. Accountability is something that every person needs. It is God’s instrument that helps people enter God’s fullness and his calling. Today let’s look at biblical examples of accountability.

• Accountability in the life of Jesus Christ

When we look at the life of Jesus Christ we see that He did not live an independent life. Jesus was accountable to His Father in everything – in words and deeds:

 «Then Jesus said to them, „When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things» (John, 8:28).

Jesus was totally submitted to God’s will and the delegated authority in His life. This attitude is one of the ways accountability is expressed in our lives. When Jesus was a child, He submitted to His parents. The Bibles tells us that when Jesus was 12, He stayed in the Jerusalem temple after the Passover celebration while His parents were looking for Him. After His parents found Him, the Bibles says that Jesus went with them despite the fact that He was at the place that belonged to His Heavenly Father:

 «Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart» (Luke, 2:51).

Jesus knew He had to do what He was sent for. But He also knew He had to submit to His parents until the appointed time. Jesus wasn’t only accountable to God; He was also accountable to people God had placed over Him.

When God wants to change a person, He places him in relationships where he must give account of his actions before other people. God makes us accountable to transform us. Accountability helps us stay in the right spiritual condition and stick to particular spiritual and moral standard. Since we do not only give account to God, but also to people that love us, care for us and keep us from falling, it helps us grow spiritually and move forward in our lives.

The effectiveness of our spiritual authority depends on the level of our accountability to God and to people God has placed as authority above us. Let’s see what the Bible says in Mathew:

 «Now when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.” And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it. When Jesus heard it, He marvelled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!» (Mathew, 8:5-10).

The story is about a Roman centurion who spoke as a man in authority and also under authority. The truth is that only a man who is under authority can be in authority over others. The Bible says that true authority comes from God, and only the one who has received it from God really has it. In order to be qualified for being in authority, one must learn to be under authority. Accountability is an ability and willingness to be under God’s delegated authority. You can have a position of authority or pursue it, but not possess any real authority.

In the passage above we saw that this centurion possessed true authority; it wasn’t just a talk, or a title, or some paraphernalia:

 And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it» (Mathew, 8:9).

Why can we say that his authority was real? Because he was also under authority! To be accountable means to be under authority that has been set by God for our good and our protection. Do not rob yourself of this good and this protection that comes to us through accountability to God and men that God has sent into our lives.

I wish you a blessed day!

Pastor Rufus Ajiboye