Not holding people accountable for their actions is a definite pattern in this country, yet it really isn’t anything new. For a long time now, we have tried to excuse murderers, rapists, thieves, etc., because of certain mitigating circumstances involved in the crimes.  Before sentencing a person too harshly for even a terribly brutal crime like murder or rape, we have to make sure that the person is really to blame for his actions. Now, it is certainly a good thing that we make sure a person accused of a crime, regardless of what that crime is, is really guilty. However, sometimes we go to ridiculous lengths in this country, and we end up showing more compassion for the criminal than we do the victim. Even when a person is found guilty of a horrific crime, we sometimes go easy on him because, after all, it could be his parents fault that he did what he did. Perhaps the community in which he lived was somewhat to blame. If his second grade teacher treated him unfairly, that teacher should certainly bear some of the responsibility for the man’s action. That is the strange thinking we have developed as a nation. Accountability is becoming an obsolete concept with us. In Family Circle Magazine, there appeared an article written by Chava Willig Levy entitled, Whose Fault Is It Anyway? Mr. Levy told of a newspaper article he read in 1988 which told of a mock jury composed of lawyers, academicians, criminologists and clergymen being assembled  to determine whether or not Cain should be found guilty of murdering his brother Abel. The jury found Cain not guilty because of extenuating circumstances such as sibling rivalry, a crisis of faith, and the trauma of rejection. That kind of reasoning would make it impossible to convict anybody of any crime. We all have our problems, but does that justify murder or any other violation of the law? Of course it shouldn’t, but such is the thinking of the experts today. Because of this kind of thinking, accountability has been thrown out of the window.

With God accountability is a reality. Man may excuse a criminal for the crimes that he commits due to extenuating circumstances, but that person is still going to have to answer to Christ and give account of his action. We all are accountability for our actions before  God. Listen to what Paul said on this subject.

“For it is written, As I live saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God” (Romans 14:11-12).

We must be careful to live our lives according to God’s will, for while man may justify certain actions that we take, even when such actions are clearly wrong, man is not the final judge. We will all stand before Jesus Christ some day (Acts 17:31), and the standard of judgment will be His word (John 12:48). Nothing that we do will fall between the cracks. Remember, everything we do is naked and
open to the eyes of God (Hebrews 4:13; Psalms 139:1-12). We will be held accountable for every misuse of the tongue, every shortcoming of God’s will and every improper deed of which we fail to repent. That doesn’t mean that we have to be perfect. None of us are perfect. But we must certainly repent of our sins. If we repent of our sins, God will forgive them (1 John 1:9), otherwise we will be held accountable.

Our society has taken accountability away. Rest assured, however, that we must all give account of our deeds before God. If they are found unfavorable to God, the sentence will be an eternity in hell. If they are found acceptable, on the other hand, the sentence will be an eternal home in heaven with God Himself. Which will you choose?