Title: Individual and Church Body Responsibilities/ Topic: Accountability

Today's Reading: Job 31; Job 32; Galatians 5; Galatians 6

Scripture: Galatians 6:1-5
1 Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. 2 Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, 5 for each one should carry his own load.

Observation: This passage caught my attention because of the news of the recent moral failure of a nationally known pastor. The passage begins by speaking to those who are spiritual leaders in the body about their responsibility to gently restore anyone who has been caught in a sin. That corporate responsibility to the body is followed by a warning that those spiritual leaders have a personal responsibility to watch their own lives and make sure that they don't fall prey to the temptation of sin. How do they do this? By being willing to share their burdens with each other (openness) and not thinking of themselves as being “too good” to sin, thus deceiving himself (v.3). Each person has a responsibility to test his own actions and not to compare themselves with others. Our standard of comparison is only to God's Word.

Application: We all have both individual and corporate responsibilities. We must examine ourselves and be open and accountable to others so as to avoid falling into sin. We must never get the idea that we have reached a spiritual level of maturity which disallows us from falling into temptation and sin. We must also watch and care for each other and restore a brother or sister caught in sin with gentleness and humility. We are responsible for ourselves (carrying our own load) and we are also responsible to help others when their load gets too big (bearing one another's burdens).

Prayer: Help us to be humble and open so that we don't find ourselves engaging in hidden sins that will bring us (and others) down. May we receive correction without negative reaction, knowing that it is given in love to keep us from the enemy's trap. Help us to be responsible in the way you intended, for ourselves and for one another.

This I pray in Jesus' name, Amen.