So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.

Romans 14:12

It’s been 2 weeks, and by God, I think it’s working.

As I began this new year, I decided I needed something to hold myself accountable, and so I made a list. 20 different metrics I want to measure every day.

Things like how much joy I experienced in a day. How much housework I did. How much exercise I did. How much time did I spend being creative? I made a chart of 20 things to check up on in a day, and every night before bed, I turn to my journal and I give each category a number between 1 and 100.

Some days my Happiness category ranks a respectable 85. Other days come in at a dismal 45. My anxiety, my depression, my hope and peace, they all fluctuate from day to day, and over the course of a couple weeks, I’ve begun to see some patterns.

For one thing, even in these bleary days of January, I have good days amidst the stressful ones. Looking at my little chart I notice that I feel better when I eat better, get some exercise, and take some time for spirituality and devotion.

In a way, instead of one New Year’s Resolution, I’m taking on twenty! But it doesn’t feel like that. It just feels like…an accounting. Holding myself accountable to the life I want to be living.

Maybe it’s more than that.

Maybe it’s a way of holding myself accountable to God. If I were to average up all my categories into one summation, it might be this: How am I living in a way that is pleasing to God?

That is, after all, what is at the core of discipleship — living each day faithfully and deliberately for God. I think that’s what I’m trying to do.

Actually, my level of faith is another on my list of 20. I check in each day to see how strong my faith is. What I’ve noticed is by taking this daily accounting, my faith level has increased. I feel more connected to God, more tuned in with what it means to give each day to God.

What do you do to hold yourself accountable to yourself and to God? We’re talking about more than New Year’s Resolutions, of course. How do you keep track of your life? What criteria would make up your “Today’s Top 20”? Could you measure how positive you are? How much time you give yourself to relax? How much care you gave others? Those are all items on my list, but what might you put on yours?

Keeping account of my life is a new daily discipline, and it’s given me a method for tracking my life’s journey. Maybe your method is as simple as a few notes in a journal, or a morning and evening devotion, an opportunity to reflect on who, and whose, you are. Maybe, like me, a few more metrics may help.

I hope to keep this up, or something like it. I don’t want to lose track of my life, because when I do, chances are I’ve lost track of God in my life.

It’s been two weeks, and by God, I think it’s working.

What works for you?