And of course, it always took a good couple of minutes, with no cars passing by, for that light to turn green so that I could turn right onto the main road.

I could clearly see the oncoming traffic, and after the groups of cars from the previous light, there would be long stretches of empty road while I just waited.

And so… I turned right on red all the time.

But I started noticing something interesting about myself.

If I was alone and there was no one in sight, I would turn right on the red.

But if there was a car that was following me, I would wait at that red light until it turned green.

Basically, I only cared about following the traffic rules if there was someone else there to watch me or judge me.

My integrity wasn’t strong, and my accountability was to random strangers’ cars and judgments.

It’s kind of a trivial example, but when I realized my patterns of stopping or going, I felt like it really betrayed where my heart was.

The Lord taught the saddened saints in D&C 63:47: “He that is faithful and endureth shall overcome the world.”

How do we overcome the world?

One way that I’ve noticed is that my accountability has shifted.

Instead of relying so much on the praise or judgment of others, I’m starting to become accountable to God.

And accountable to God alone.

It’s tough sometimes.

It’s still easy to get caught up in that fear of what others will say or think. Especially when they are people that I care about a lot.

But the process of overcoming the world to me has been the process of learning to be accountable to God, and to let all my other worries slide away.

To do the “right thing” because I know that it is something God has asked me to do.

And to avoid the “wrong thing” because I know it’s something that God has advised would not be good for me.

(And ideally, because it’s something I’ve also gained a testimony of for myself.)

And to be honest, when I’m totally aligned and focused on only being accountable to God, my life gets a whole lot more peaceful.

To overcome the world, I am learning to become completely accountable to God.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Accountability and red lights first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.