Your accountability partner MUST be willing to ask you pointed questions, such as the following two, each week; moreover, you must promise to answer honestly and to hide nothing from your accountability partner. The first question is "How many times were you tempted in your sin area this week?" The second question is "How many times did you turn towards the sin?"

As you struggle for freedom from sin patterns you will be tempted over and over again - consider keeping a detailed count of the number of times you are tempted for the purpose of tracking progress. It is NO sin to be tempted. We sin the moment we take a small step in the direction of the sin (rather than running away from the temptation). We sin the moment we hesitate from turning away from temptation. Again, to track progress, consider keeping, and reporting, a count of the number of times you actually sinned.

One other recommendation regarding your selection of an accountability partner - consider making it someone that you ABSOLUTELY do not want to have to report failure to, such as a younger Christian who considers you more mature in your faith, but who is mature enough to handle helping you with your spiritual temptations. Knowing that you will have to report failure, and knowing that it is someone to whom you do not want to have to report failure, is powerful motivation that will make you think before sinning.

This sounds like a lot of work, and it is - but if you employ these steps in dealing with sin struggles and in getting control over your thought-life, there is no reason to be resigned to defeat. Why not make a New Year's resolution to gain victory over one sin area in your life? And why not start working on that resolution today?

Dr. Chuck Betters has been the pastor of Glasgow Reformed Presbyterian Church in Bear, Delaware since 1986. He has a daily radio program, airing since 1994, In His Grip, which can be accessed online at www.MARKINC.org. Along with the development of numerous audio and video resources designed to help heal broken hearts, he is also co-author of Treasures of Faith, Living Boldly in View of God's Promises.