Do we really need to be accountable to ourselves or to anyone concerning our actions? What is accountability? According to Webster’s dictionary, it is the quality or state of being accountable. I was taught in school that when you are asked to define a word, you should not use the same word because it will not give a clear meaning. I can say that accountability is a binding or mutual relationship that develops and sustains our moral, ethical, social and growth. I become a mirror of myself and also let others become my mirror. Solomon a man of immense wisdom encourages us about the importance of being accountable to other people. In Proverbs 27:17, the Holy Book says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another”. Being accountable to other people keeps us alert and makes us be ourselves as god purposed us to be. Whenever we realize that someone else is watching us and will definitely judge our actions causes us to endeavor to consider our actions. This means that accountability will always keep us from failures in terms of our morality, spirituality and social lifestyle. When we become accountable to others, we make ourselves to be evaluated so that independent audit to be done on what we stand for, how we behave and what we say. This makes us to be better person.
Paul in his letter to the Church in Corinth stresses on the need to being accountable to others. “So if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you do not fall!” (1 Corinthians 10:12). We may think that we know what we are doing or that we are an authority in the positions we hold but we will find sooner or later that we were just amateurs in our actions. Sometimes pride and status in our social lives take over from rationale thinking and this makes us fall short of the glory of God in what we have been entrusted to do. It is important to know that we are stewards of our maker and everything we have and do should be to give God glory. We are all accountable whether we know it or not. People are watching us day and night. They are looking to see if we are who we say we are. They base their trust and confidence in us according to the level of truth they see in our lives. If they do not consider our lives to be worthy of their confidence or trust, then our services and work will have no effect on their lives. Every person is supposed to be accountable to God, to spouses, to family, to friends, to the leaders, to subjects and to the world.
Being accountable will definitely strengthen our personalities and organizations. Knowing that you are doing the right thing inspires oneself. There is always a feeling of contentment in knowing and realizing that you are right with God and your fellow man. When we do the right thing, we get satisfaction and proud of our work. Whenever we are right with ourselves, our personality, our countenance, our outlook and vision becomes clearer than never before. Many people have messed up their lives in their personal and spiritual lives because they were never accountable to anyone. They could have been greater both in the Church, societies or countries, but they lost the confidence and trust of their subjects because of pride and big ego in them. The moment they believed that they are their own masters and mistresses. That was the beginning of their fall from grace. Any leader who is not accountable to those they lead will ultimately breed mistrust from their subjects.
