Faithwoman

Good evening,
I have come to you great folks here with a few questions about accountability in one's life. First and foremost , I know our accountablitly is first and foremost with God. I know that and understand that.

Now the questions I have:

If when in a loving relationship and a Christian relationship and one person has struggles or weaknesses and has openly admitted they need to work on that issue,
i.e.. quitting smoking, tendency to view porn, or such should each individual have accountablility to someone else than just God?

Is it benefecial to have an accountablility partner to keep one on track?

Ok. I will cut to the chase and give you the real prime example.. most recently I have felt a strong conviction to be sexually pure in my life.. being 46 and not married and being in a relationship where there was sex outside of marriage, I knew had to come to an end. I know to have the full blessings of the Lord, I need to obey in all areas of life especially this one.. Is it easy? no.. possible yes..

So I had the discussion with my boyfriend and we were both on the same page.. it is like asking the Lord to bless the relationship.. but oh by the way can you ignore Saturday night? .. So we prayed and have comitted to sexual purity in our relationship. .. now.. I am sure many of you are thinking that relationship is not going to last.. a 46 year old woman and a 50 year old man.. who were once sexual and now not..

I ask about accountability because I know there will be huge temptations.. sexual purity is more than just not having sex.. it goes through all realms. what we think, what we see etc.. For some reason I want to think it will be easier for me than it will be for him ( after all, my father said men think about sex 24/7).

However, I know going forward, I feel a big relief.. I no longer have to worry about some things,, but of course other thoughts come in my mind.

I feel it would be beneficial for each of us to have accountability to someone besides the Lord.

I also currently am struggling with quitting smoking and realize how important accountability to someone else would help. Amazingly enough, my boyfriend is not a smoker, he encourages me to quit.. and I have told him I am working on that, but he never bugs me or asks me how I am doing. He said he does not want to badger me .. he just wants to encourage me.. the thought that goes through my mind, is he does not ask or have me answer with accountablility.. because therefore I will not ask him how he is doing with his struggles.. Just being honest here..

I appreciate you taking the time to read this and giving any thoughts and input.

Faithwoman