Taking a Spiritual Check-Up: Are You Growing or Stagnant in Your Walk with God?

Just as we take physical examinations for our health, it’s essential to have spiritual examinations to evaluate where we stand in our relationship with God. Are we growing, or are we stagnant? Are we connected, or are we disconnected?

I encourage you to use the spiritual examination below and reflect on where you are in your walk with God.

Spiritual Examination
1. Do I love God with all of my heart soul and mind?

2. How is my personal relationship with God?
A) Do I have a growing desire to spend more time with God? Am I spending appropriate time praying, reading and meditating on the Word?
B) Am I growing in my desire to obey and please God? Do I obey out of gratitude for God’s love? Or from guilt or fear?
C) Have I fully surrendered to the Holy Spirit? Do I ask God to fill me each day with the Holy Spirit?
D)  Are there areas I am holding back from God? Which ones? Why?
E)  Am I more aware of the sins in my life? Do I repent on a daily basis and receive forgiveness and cleansing from God? Have I fully, truthfully repented of all past and current sins?

3. Am I actively serving God?
A)  Am I volunteering at church?
B)  Am I praying regularly for the pastor, staff, missionaries and volunteers?
C)  Am I seeking to make others feel welcome in my church?
D)  Am I doing my job with excellence
F) Am I praying for my work colleagues and people in my neighborhood?

4. Am I growing in my desire and actions to give sacrificially to God’s work in the church, in caring for the poor, and in other ministries? Am I teaching my children about sacrificial giving and putting God before materialistic desires?

5. Am I living in humility before God, my family, friends and co-workers?

6. Is there evidence of grace growing in my life? Do I thank God every day for his love, grace and mercy and saving me from what I deserve? Am I seeing evidence of the fruit of the Spirit in my life (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control)?
A)  Am I learning to see others through the mind of Christ? Am I treating others with the same grace God has shown me?

7. Do I love my neighbor?

8. Am I loving my family as I should?
A)  Husbands, are you loving your wives? How, specifically?
B)  Wives, are you respecting your husbands? How, specifically?
C)  Parents – are we teaching our children the Bible, how to pray, and how to please God?
D)  Children, are you honoring your parents? How, specifically?
E)  Am I managing my time in a way that reflects God’s priorities and honors my family relationships?  What specific changes are needed?
F)  Are there any outside influences that are harming my family relationships?  If so, what will I do about them?

9. Am I forgiving others? Is there anyone among my family, friends, neighbors or co-workers that I refuse to forgive? Do I fully trust that God has forgiven my sins?

10. Am I growing in fellowship with other believers?
A)  Am I part of a small group? Is it making a difference in the lives of participants?
B)  Do I have a godly mentor to help me grow in my walk with Christ?
C)  Am I mentoring/discipling a newer believer?

11. Have I personally witnessed to anyone in the past year? In my neighborhood? In my workplace? Am I prepared to share my testimony? To share the Gospel?
A)  Am I fervently praying for and planning opportunities to witness in this coming year?
B)  Am I being salt and light in my neighborhood, workplace and social groups?  How, specifically?

12. Am I focusing part of my time and money to help the poor and disadvantaged? Am I teaching my children about the importance of helping the poor? How?