#84 - Man of Covenant #5

When I was in grade school and we worked on the alphabet, we used to say A is for Apple. But in living as a man of covenant, "A" stands for Accountability. A man of covenant is accountable.

To be accountable is to take responsibility for one's actions, unlike Adam who tried put the blame for letting sin into the human bloodline on Eve, who in turn tried to blame the serpent. To be accountable is to stand up and take responsibility for what is under your authority, whether in the family, in the workplace, in the community or in the Kingdom of God.

Everyone likes to be accountable when something under your authority goes well, which is really a time to be humble and acknowledge those who actually did the work and glorify the Lord. But a man of covenant is also accountable when things or people don't go or do so well. One of my former Pastors used to say as the man you are the head of the household as ordained by God, and when something or someone under your authority in the home or with a family member living under your roof goes wrong whether you caused it or not, you are responsible for dealing with it. That's what real accountability is all about!

Ephesians 5:23 points this out and shows us the order of accountbility in the family where it tells us the husband is the head of the wife (and the children as well) just as Christ is the head of the Church. And with headship comes accountability.

So what does an accountable man of covenant do when he stumbles or something is out of order with anything or anyone (including himself) under his authority be it in the family or home, workplace, church, community or wherever it may be? He takes responsibility for what took place, deals with the situation according to the Word of God, and if he has been lax in his duties as the one that is accountable, he repents according to 1 John 1:9-10 and James 5:16.

A man of covenant, unlike Adam, also doesn't pass the buck, blame someone else, or have an attitude of "well, I didn't do it." Rather, he steps up, takes responsibility and rights the situation. This doesn't mean the man of covenant let's those who were involved off the hook. He deals with them as well, correcting them as appropriate. But he is the one who is accountable.

In what areas of your life and with those under your authority have you been out of order and not accountable as a man of covenant should be? We all have some. So just ask God and He will point them out to you. Then, accept responsibility, repent and get things in order.

We'll start looking at some key principles a man of covenant lives by reflective of his being Commited, living by Integrity and being Accountable, in the next Post.