Your Other Partners

Guys, imagine this conversation happening in your home:

Husband:  Honey, I'm going off to meet with my other partner.
Wife: Sound great, what time will you be home?

Not the reaction you'd expect?

I meet with different church small groups throughout the week.   We meet at McDonalds on Monday morning, we meet in the church library on Tuesdays, we have a running group on Wednesdays, and I am very blessed to have church friends who we get together with regularly.   I tell them often that without them, I do not know where I would be.

My accountability partners keep me on a path where I wouldn't be able to walk on my own.

I recently had gone through an unemployment phase that lasted almost 7 months.  As the provider for my home, I struggled as I watched my wife become the bread winner, working insane hours, to keep our family afloat.  While I love her dearly for being willing to support us on her own, the dad.. the husband... the MAN in me was torn inside allowing her to do this.

I took a job as a car salesperson at a "We Finance Everyone!" lot a few months back.  When I took the job, I was excited to have a real paycheck.  I would be able to take care of my family the way I felt I needed to.

But then, it was training time.  Lie, cheat, steal, avoid the truth.  Charge 5 times what a car is worth.  Don't sell for cash because we choose to cheat them out of their interest rate due to their poverty.

I hated it, and I felt wrong doing the job.  But how could I leave this job - the first one I had in 7 months - because I didn't "like" it?  It wasn't the 'responsible' thing to do, was it?

So, I texted my accountability partners.  

What do I do?  Do I stay?  Do I go?  Where is God leading me?  What does He want me to do?  What does He expect out of me?

At the end of the day, following many scriptures, words of faith and moral support, I came to the realization that my integrity and my faith did not allow me to lower myself to these standards.  I quit the job that same day.

I could not live without the partners that I have been given.  My wife has supported me through everything, and the Lord has blessed me with a very loving, supportive and God fearing woman.  If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be the Christian Father and Husband I am today.  My friends - my accountability partners - have been there to carry me when I'm down, lift me up and allow me to look into the mirror and be proud of the man I am trying to be.

God didn't want us to try this world alone.  The Bible is loaded with scripture that tell us to work together, to be the church family.

Galatians 6:1-2 - Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

We are to watch each other's backs.  Do you have a friend that needs help?  Does he seem like he is struggling?  God wants us to be there to put our hands on his shoulder.  No matter what we do in this world, we need to recognize that we live in His world.  He has given us the ability to love, and we should experience that at the highest level.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 - Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

What a great couple of verses.  This points directly to the need to have accountability partners.  Where you fall, they will lift you.  And when they fall, you will rise them up.

As you go through your day, think about the guys in your life.  Us "dudes" were taught that we can handle life on our own, and that asking for help is a sign of weakness.  If we fail, we are supposed to "pull ourselves up by the bootstraps".  I lived that way for a long time, and it has taken me a long time to realize that I do not hold ownership of this life on earth.

It is very clear to me that what we have, we should lift it up to Him, as he is the one that provides and gives us each of our successes.  If this is the case (and it is), and the Word is crystal clear that we should do this together, what can we do to honor Him?

Ephesians 4:32 - Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

God gave us the ultimate sacrifice of his son, Jesus Christ.  Let's honor that by honoring each other.