Accountability Partner

Luke 4:1

And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,

Fighting sin is a daily battle of the believer. However successful we are at fighting sin will determine how much God can use us in His service. Though nobody is sinless, we don't have to allow sin to reign in our lives.

One of the things that people often say when fighting sin is that you need an accountability partner. This partner is there for you when you are being tempted with sin to help you overcome the temptation. The accountability partner also keeps you accountable to doing right. You will never overcome sin in your own power; you need an accountability partner.

We often talk about the need for the power of the Holy Ghost to do the works of God, but I believe we miss one great asset of having the Holy Spirit’s power resting on our lives. The Holy Spirit is the best accountability partner anyone can have for He is with you all the time and His agenda is to keep you clean from sin so that you can do the most that God intends for you to do.

We read that Jesus was full of the Holy Ghost, and many times that fulness allowed Him to perform the miraculous. However, we see Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost and going into the wilderness to be tempted. The power of the Holy Ghost was critical to overcoming the temptation that Jesus would face. This teaches us several lessons that each of us need to follow about the importance of the Holy Spirit being our accountability partner.

First, you will face temptation. We cannot live in a world of sin and not face the temptations of the world. To think that you can overcome temptation with your own power is foolish. If Jesus faced temptation, you can be assured that Satan will throw temptation at you to try to lure you into sin.

Second, you cannot overcome temptation under your own power. Though Jesus could not sin, He still had to show us how to overcome sin’s temptations. This is why it was critical that He was filled with the Holy Ghost because no believer has the power to overcome the continual barrage of sin’s temptations with their own power. You need another power to help you to overcome the temptation.

Third, you need to be filled with the Holy Ghost before you are tempted with sin. You will notice that Jesus was not tempted and then filled with the Holy Ghost; rather, He was filled with the Holy Ghost and then faced temptation. Because He was already filled with the Holy Ghost, He had the power to overcome it. It is critical that you are yielded to the Holy Ghost and filled with His power so that you have the power to overcome temptation when it comes.

Fourth, the Holy Ghost never leaves you to face temptation under your own power, which means you must be yielded to His voice and power. The only reason sin overcomes you is because you did not listen or yield to your accountability partner, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will never leave you nor forsake you; He will convict you and is willing to give you His power to help you overcome temptation IF you will just ask for His help. My friend, you can overcome any sin no matter how much control it has had over your life if you will yield to the Holy Spirit and ask Him to give you His power to conquer the temptation you face.