“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” (1 Thes 5:11)

Recently, I joined a couple of friends for a writing challenge. We all set our own word count- as long as it was over five thousand words – and we gave ourselves fifteen days. Whoever met her goal first would be declared the winner, and the other two would have to buy her dinner.

This motivated me in ways that setting goals on my own had not. One of the main reasons this challenge worked better than others I had tried was the level of accountability.

Online writing challenges come with some mechanism of accountability. You have to enter your word count at the end of each day, and you must upload your document at the end of the challenge so that the system can verify your word count. For the most part, you compete against yourself. If I fail to meet my goal in such a challenge, no one cares except me.

For this challenge, I was accountable to two friends who know me well and who continuously encourage me to keep writing. One helped me plot my cozy mystery and asks every so often what kind of progress I’ve made. The other sends me information about ongoing Twitter writing challenges. Basically, they have shown they care, and they have invested themselves in my life and in my writing.

I also told friends who are not writers, and I posted my daily word count on social media. By making my goal public, I received more support than I realized was possible. Each day of the challenge, several friends from my small group would check in with me and ask how it was going. Even strangers were commenting on my progress, encouraging me to keep striving for my goal. This level of accountability was new for me because I usually keep things pretty close, especially if I’m worried I might fail. This time, I opened up and was hugely successful. . As it turned out, I won the challenge, meeting my goal in only five days.

Accountability is a critical aspect of our Christian walk as well. We can’t be accountable to someone with whom we’re not honest or we don’t know well. There’s a level of comfort and transparency that comes with getting to know someone. Once we know someone, we can begin to hold each other accountable, perhaps for specific strongholds in our lives that we’re working to overcome such as worry, a positive attitude, or gossip. Through the mechanism of accountability, we can lift each other up and bear each others’ burdens: “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal 6:2).

Dear Jesus, thank you for friends who hold me accountable. Thank you that they lift me up and support me. Help me to do the same for others. Amen.