Five Questions I Ask Myself

In one of my desk drawers, I have a sheet of paper listing five questions I regularly ask myself. Yes, I know what some of you are thinking: “You have a desk?” Indeed I do…and I know how to use it.

In all seriousness, it is extremely important that we take moments during our week to step back and look in the mirror. Open, honest evaluation is so important in every area of our lives, but especially in our spiritual lives. I wanted to share with you five questions I ask myself when I “pop the hood” and take a peek at how things are doing. So here goes.

1. Am I remembering that God is God and I’m not? (Matthew 6:10) Okay, take just a moment to say that out loud to yourself. Go ahead. Do you feel peace settling over you? There is something about acknowledging, we are not in control that is settling to our lives. No wonder in Jesus’ model prayer he said we should start out by saying, “Our Father in heaven hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done…”

2. Am I listening to what God is saying? (Ezekiel 2:1,2) God has something that he wants to tell all of us…especially if we are believers in Christ. He has plans to use us in his Kingdom—to make a difference. What we need to do is tune him in. That means walking away from the iPod, TV, radio, computer, and book for a while so we can connect to the one who actually has something good to say.

3. Am I guarding my heart? (Proverbs 4:23) I know that God is working on my heart…changing me. My job is to guard it, not allowing sinful tendencies, influences, or the enemy himself to find a foothold in my heart. This means I need to guard what goes into my heart (What I watch, listen to, and think about) as well as what I allow to hang around my heart. (Things like guilt, jealousy, greed, and anger).

4. Am I doing my best? (Number 18:29) Everything I have comes from God—everything! I am responsible for taking my talents, gifts, money, possessions and using them in the best possible way to advance Christ’s Kingdom. So I have to constantly ask myself, “Am I doing my best for the Kingdom?”

5. Am I taking risks? (1 Samuel 14:6,7) Throughout the Bible there are numerous examples of men and women who did the unthinkable, the unimaginable, and the downright crazy. Why? They engaged in risky behavior because they had faith that God was going to do something big when they walked into the unknown. So David kills the giant, Jonathan defeats the Philistine army single-handedly, and a handful of Christ followers influence the world with the Good News of Jesus. What if the most spiritual thing I do is take a risk?

“Without faith it’s impossible to please God..." ~ Hebrews 11:6