Recently, I was asked to take part in an evaluation of my children’s school. The parents’ forum was part of the accreditation process that many schools need to undertake. It was, in a way, similar to the recent survey we did in our church. We are trying to determine how we are doing in our mission and where we need to improve.
It made me think about doing some personal evaluation. It’s common for us to be asked to weigh in on matters at school, church, our workplace and so on. We seldom lack opinions about how others are doing. When a chance arises to share our wisdom, we are happy to state what we think needs to change, but how often do we perform that internal check on ourselves? In a couple of different letters, the Apostle Paul encourages believers to “examine” and “test” themselves to see if they are on the right path. (1 Corinthians 11:28; 2 Corinthians 13:5)
So here are three questions for you to consider. These aren’t scientific questions, but they’re designed to get you thinking about some aspects of your spiritual life.
- What is one thing you have learned from your personal Scripture reading in the last month? Follow-up: How have you used that information?
- What has been the number one issue in your prayer life during the last month? Follow-up: Do you pray about this because you have expectation or fear?
- What word would you use to describe your spiritual vitality in the last month? Follow-up: What are the things which contributed to that?
There are no right or wrong answers to these questions. Our aim should be to keep moving in the direction of Jesus, learning to pattern our life after his. If we find ourselves off-track, then it’s good to correct as soon as possible. Find a few minutes today and ask yourself these questions.