Fellowship and Accountability

Last night I had a meeting with some guys I have gotten to know quite well over the last couple years.  We had worked through an in-depth study about an aspect of Christian living for about 18-20 months.  This required a commitment and honesty for this process to really impact my life.  Recently, our study ended and our regular meetings ceased.  It had been a few months, and we made a plan to get together and chat.  After that time, I realized how much the fellowship time encouraged me and strengthened me.

I had missed this fellowship time, but I had especially missed the discussion and the spiritual fine tuning.  A few weeks ago, there was a men's meeting at church.  The meeting was informal with the agenda being open discussion and prayer.  Once again, I really enjoyed being around these other people who had a desire to fellowship, grow spiritually, and share a little of life with each other.  One of my favorite verses is Proverbs 27:17.  "Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend."  This applies to men and women, although interactions will vary according to personality, the matter at hand, emotions, seriousness (and honesty), and motive.  In other words, there has to be a purpose for improvement.

The bottom line is that focused fellowship and accountability definitely help lead to encouragement and progress in areas of weakness in our lives.  The question I revisited last evening was this:  How serious am I about this matter?  This can apply to a myriad of things.  Yet even the mere act of being in the presence of people who are positive, encouraging, and caring is helpful.  When a focused intention is added and deliberate attention is given to the matters of the heart, such fellowship is an environment for breakthrough or advancement.