Lesson 66

How Do Accountability And Boundaries Work Together?

It was early during the discovery period when Jennifer and her husband sat down to figure out what they were going to do. Her husband’s position as a leader in their church put a great deal of stress on him and he already knew of several couples dealing with sexual impurity, along with other issues that were not honoring to God. Jennifer was cautious in approaching him with her concerns about sexual impurity, especially because of his role in the church. However, being a leader made him keenly aware that his training regarding soul care and ministry burn-out were real issues in his own life and that he needed help.

“It was very surprising,” Jennifer said, “when he revealed that he had identified an absence of soul care and ministry burn-out as essential factors influencing his acting out behaviors. Pornography became his means of escape from the pressures of work. By checking in with his new accountability partners, he has been careful to make sure those stressors don’t eat him up like before.“ Jennifer herself found that something very similar happened to her. If she did not check in with her accountability group, she could find herself retreating right back into her bitter self, being consumed by self-pity. The accountability group has become her safe place where she can become vulnerable, yet loved. “When I’m there, I don’t have to be okay all the time, but I will be pointed back to Jesus.” Jennifer and her husband started a couples accountability group to edify and encourage one another as they journey toward becoming the husbands and wives the Lord designed them to be.