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Key Bible Verse: Let the godly strike me! It will be a kindness! If they reprove me, it is soothing medicine. Don't let me refuse it (Psalm 141:5). Bonus Reading:Proverbs 9:8; 19:25; 27:6

While teaching a group of leaders about goals, I suggested that they write specific, measurable goals and hold each other accountable to them. Before I could finish, one of the newer guys—let's call him Mr. Helpful—said, "Great! What's one of your goals?" Being on the spot, I said, "To lose 20 pounds."

"Terrific," Mr. Helpful said. "I'll bring a scale every week. You can stand on it, and we'll see how well you're doing."

I tried without luck to slip out of the arrangement. So every week Mr. Helpful brought the scale. I did all right for a while, but then one week I just pigged out. I knew I had not only not lost weight but gained some. Fearing the meeting that week, I was relieved when Mr. Helpful showed up without his scale.

It was no problem, I told the group. I'd go upstairs to my scale, weigh myself, and then tell them the results. Well, Mr. Helpful would have none of that: he made me go up, get the scale, and bring it down to the meeting.

Holding yourself and others accountable in doing what you say you're going to do may seem hard. But it's a key element in bringing about real, lasting change in our lives.

—Ron Jenson in Fathers and Sons

My Response: Would I resent or value a "Mr. Helpful"? Why?

Thought to Apply: Accountability breeds responsibility.—STEPHEN COVEY (management expert)

Adapted from Fathers and Sons (Broadman & Holman, 1998) by permission.

Copyright © 2006 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine. Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

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Prayer for the Week

Lord, help me connect honestly with other men, men who share my desire to take being Your disciple to a new level.

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