Twelve Questions To Help Us Measure Up

Twelve Questions To Help Us Measure Up There comes a time each year when I find myself enveloped in introspection. Sometimes I refer to it as “waxing nostalgic,” as I reflect on different times in different places. But mostly it consists of a review of my life today, and a look ahead to what I really would like to be doing in the next few months and years. This review has taken on a new meaning since I became a Christian while in my early thirties. The questions I now ask myself are of a more spiritual nature, but the objective is still the same: assess where I am today, and determine where I will be in a few months or years. I came across the following questions some time ago in an article first published in an old magazine - the January 1944 issue of Contact, the quarterly publication of the Christian Business Men’s Committee. I cut them out and filed them where I was sure I could always find them. Then I forgot all about them until I happened across them recently. I share these 12 questions now because they have become the core of my own personal review process, and might prove beneficial to you as well. Whether asked of ourselves daily, monthly, annually or whenever we re-discover them, they help re-focus, re-center, and re-define our priorities in life. 1. Does my life please God? Am I con-sistently putting Him first in all that I do, and am I following the Lord’s commands found in Matthew 22:37, Mark 12:30, and Luke 10:27? Do I love the Lord with all that I have, and love my neighbor as myself? In order to answer this question truthfully, it is important to know what it is that pleases God. 2. Do I enjoy being a Christian? This, of course, begs the question “Are you a Christian?” Have you received the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, repented of your sins, and made the decision to live your life for Him? My life today is certainly much better than “B.C.” (before Christ), and I would not go back to my pre-Christian days for anything. I find real pleasure in the things of the Lord - such as prayer, Bible study, fellowship with other Christians, going to church. For many, these things are just too much work; the old life was much easier. There must be a sense of joy in being a Christian. Joy is more than happiness, and it overrides sadness. It is more than good times, and it carries us through bad times. Why? Because “the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Neh. 8:10 NIV). 3. Do I hold feelings of dislike or hatred for anyone? One thing I have held in my heart for quite some time is this: Love what God loves and hate what God hates. God loves His creation and His children, and we must strive to do likewise. We must love our fellow man, and if a disagreement or conflict arises between two or more of His children it must be settled in love. We cannot hate others and still be in God’s will: “Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness” (1 Jn. 2:9). Love what God loves. 4. Am I studying my Bible daily? Not just reading it, but actually studying God’s Word, meditating on it, applying it to our lives. God speaks to us through His Word. He uses it to teach, testify, encourage, give hope, admonish, and guide: “Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Rom. 15:4) Do you desire to be in God’s Word? Are you hungry for it? 5. How much time do I spend in prayer? Any? Only in emergencies? I am talking about private prayer, not corporate or group prayer. In Matthew 6:6 Jesus tells us, “When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” Don’t cheat God out of time alone with you. He wants to commune with you through prayer. Jesus Himself took time to get alone and pray to His Father. So should we. 6. When was the last time I had an answer to prayer? Of course, to answer this, we must be in prayer, and we must pray specifically. Can you point to a specific incident that is a direct answer to prayer? My 19 year-old daughter recently totaled her car in an accident enroute to classes at the local college. I knew that God had answered my prayers right then and there, because she walked away from that accident with barely a scratch. I pray for Him to wrap His arms around her every day and surround her, and my son, with His army of angels for protection. There is no question in my mind that He answered my prayer. The Bible is replete with incidents of God answering prayer. Your answers may not be as sudden as getting water from a rock (Ex. 15:25), or as delayed as having a son when you are ninety (Gen. 17:7), but we need to keep praying, thanking God for His intervention in our lives and the answers when they come. 7. Am I praying for anyone’s salvation? Do you keep a prayer journal of those whose salvation you are specifically praying for? God hears the prayers of the faithful, and He will respond. Maybe not in our time-frame, or in the manner we expect, but He does hear and He does respond. God is drawing people to Himself, just as He did you and me (Jn. 6:44). Just as Christ interceded for us (Jn. 17:20), we need to offer prayers of intercession for others. I am confident that my salvation was made possible because of the prayers of faithful servants on my behalf. 8. When did I last share the gospel with a lost soul? We must remember that we can’t save anyone, but we can help lead them to the One who can. The Great Commission, found in Matthew 27:18-20, beckons us to go into the world and tell others about Jesus. Why don’t we? Romans 1:16 says that we should not be ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. Is there anyone you don’t want to be saved? Is there anyone you would rather have spend eternity in hell rather than in the presence of our loving Lord and Savior? If you say “No” to these questions, then you must say “Yes” to sharing the good news. If we claim to be unashamed of the gospel, then we must be willing to reach out, to go and share the Good News. 9. How does my life look to those who are not yet Christians? Are you walking your talk? Do those who are not Christians notice that you are different? This is important, because if you are not different, if there has been no visible change in your life, if you are not living with a revised set of priorities, then why would anyone want to listen to you, let alone be like you? Your life must be a reflection of Jesus Christ who now abides within: “If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Cor. 5:17). If you claim to be a new creation in Christ and have the Holy Spirit abiding in you, there has to be a change. The old is gone and the new has come. Remember, people are watching you and you may be the only Jesus they see, the only Bible they read (2 Cor. 3:1-3). 10. Is there anything I cannot, or will not, give up for Christ? Is there a life-style, a habit, a relationship, a job, a sin, or any material possession I would not give up to have a closer relationship with God? What is of more value to you than your relationship with Christ? Are you like the rich young ruler in Luke 18:18-25 who could not fathom living without his material possessions, even if it meant living without Christ? Is there anything in our life that separates us or puts a wall between us and the Lord? Whatever it is - money, fame, position, work, or anything else - it is only temporary. And compared to eternity, it has no value. 11. What are my greatest weaknesses and where am I making my greatest mistakes? Are we honest enough to admit our shortcomings? Or do we try to rationalize them away? Weaknesses are not bad when we are willing to admit to them and turn toward God for His overcoming strength. The Lord told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Paul’s response should be ours as well: “When I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:9-10). He also writes, “Not that we are competent to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God” (2 Cor. 3:5). 12. Do I place anything before my Christian duties? What are Christian duties? Your list may be different from mine, but all should include: loving God, obeying God and obeying the laws of the land (Rom. 13:1), the duties of husbands, of wives, of parents and children, of employers and employees. These are all addressed in God’s Word. As Christians we also have a duty to each other - a duty to love our brothers and sisters in Christ. To help each other and hold each other accountable. How are we measuring up each day? What are we placing ahead of or instead of these duties? Maybe your list of questions looks a bit different than mine; it may be more relevant to your own spiritual life than the one I have presented. But it is good for each of us to have a checklist against which we can measure our walk with the Lord - and use it from time to time. Take a few moments every once in a while to pause and reflect, to consider if you are measuring up to the calling God has placed on your life, and then move ahead with renewed momentum to serve Him faithfully and obediently. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Mike Irvin serves the Lord as the Director of Annual Giving for Habitat for Humanity International in Americus, Georgia. He and his wife Diana have two children. Previously, Mike served as a pastor in Muncie, Illinois.