Here’s Looking at Me
“Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not
know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you —unless indeed you are disqualified” (2 Cor. 13:5-6).
One of the hardest things for many people (including Christians) to do is look at themselves honestly. After all, most of us like to think that we are above average, somewhat better than others, and possess few faults. We seem to have an inborn defense mechanism that hinders us from being completely honest with ourselves.
Unfortunately, that makes spiritual growth more difficult. In the aforementioned scripture, the Apostle Paul commands us to examine ourselves. That means to take an objective look at our faith. Have you done that lately?
Paul goes on to say that we should test ourselves. How do we accomplish that? The most effective way is to give ourselves a spiritual challenge. Below are a few examples:
+Attend every service of the church for a month.
+Visit one sick or weak member each week for a month.
+Spend an extra 15 minutes daily reading God's word.
+Increasing our contribution by $5 weekly for a month.
Why is it important to examine and test ourselves? According to Paul, it is to keep us from being disqualified. It has been said that if we are not growing, we are declining. How tragic to be in a declining spiritual state when Jesus returns or when we leave this world.
Living an active, faithful, trusting, loving, Christian life will prevent us from being disqualified in the end. Every day we should look into God’s Word, then at at our own lives. That should tell us a lot.
Jesus FIRST!
Dennis
“Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not
know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you —unless indeed you are disqualified” (2 Cor. 13:5-6).
One of the hardest things for many people (including Christians) to do is look at themselves honestly. After all, most of us like to think that we are above average, somewhat better than others, and possess few faults. We seem to have an inborn defense mechanism that hinders us from being completely honest with ourselves.
Unfortunately, that makes spiritual growth more difficult. In the aforementioned scripture, the Apostle Paul commands us to examine ourselves. That means to take an objective look at our faith. Have you done that lately?
Paul goes on to say that we should test ourselves. How do we accomplish that? The most effective way is to give ourselves a spiritual challenge. Below are a few examples:
+Attend every service of the church for a month.
+Visit one sick or weak member each week for a month.
+Spend an extra 15 minutes daily reading God's word.
+Increasing our contribution by $5 weekly for a month.
Why is it important to examine and test ourselves? According to Paul, it is to keep us from being disqualified. It has been said that if we are not growing, we are declining. How tragic to be in a declining spiritual state when Jesus returns or when we leave this world.
Living an active, faithful, trusting, loving, Christian life will prevent us from being disqualified in the end. Every day we should look into God’s Word, then at at our own lives. That should tell us a lot.
Jesus FIRST!
Dennis
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