Many of us are
familiar with the “Spiritual Gifts Test” that can help identify the gifts God
has given us to minister to others in this world. (if you don’t know about this test or haven’t completed one in a
while go to the website at the end of the blog) But how many of us have completed
a Spiritual Checkup? I hadn’t either
until I read an article in 2009 written by Doug Morrell, of Core Groups.com, in
2005.
Perhaps
you’ve taken some time on New Year’s day to examine your life and set some new
goals but Doug promotes a focused consideration of our spiritual condition. In
Doug’s article he cites a book by Gordon McDonald called, “Rebuilding your
Broken World” in which this questionnaire of 26 questions is utilized to
complete the checkup: - How is your relationship with God, right now?
- What is your greatest confusion in your relationship with God?
- Have you read the Bible in the past week?
- Can you identify what God said to you during that reading?
- Where do you find yourself resist Him?
- Identify one primary area you pray in regards to yourself.
- Identify one primary area you pray in regards to someone else.
- What tasks facing you right now do you consider incomplete?
- What habits intimidate you?
- What press reports did you read this week?
- In which type of general reading do you spend your time?
- What have you done lately to play?
- How is your relationship with your family?
- If I were to ask the person closets to you what your state is in the following areas, what would they say? Energy, state of mind, state of spirit.
- Are you sensing attacks from Satan?
- If Satan tried to invalidate you as a person, how would he do it?
- How would you rate your thought life and sinful temptations? Protected/Exposed/Fragile/Overwhelming.
- What is the state of your financial world? Under control/Moderate Anxiety/Buried in debt
- Are there any unresolved conflicts in your circle of relationships right now?
- When was the last time you spent some time with a good friend?
- Are you in contact with any one that is a non-Christian in which you are being an example of Christian living?
- What challenges do you see you might face in the near future? (week/month/6 months)
- What are your top three fears?
- What are your top three gratefuls?
- Are you sleeping well?
- Do you like the person you are in your journey with God?
Take
the time you need. Be blessed and take the challenge seriously to complete your
checkup. Grab your journal or start a journal.
If you prefer, use electronic tools to help you – for instance, I email
myself reminders all the time. Copy this list and paste it into a new email. Answer
the questions in that email and send it to yourself. Now its searchable in your
inbox and dated. The key is to be able
to go back on a regular basis to see how the answers might be changing. There
is no one way to journal… make it work for you! There is also not one way of
growing – just grow!
The Goal is to Grow
“Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become, in every respect, the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.” Ephesians 4:14-15 (NIV)
This life can get physically overwhelming, emotionally stressful, and
mentally draining. One of the reasons we should have checkups is so that we
stay on track with God’s plans and be reminded of his goodness, his control,
and his peace. You can compare your last checkups results with today’s and not
only see the growth but also see the areas that need improvement, bad habits
and interesting patterns. Just like
children go to the doctor for regular vaccines and measurements, we should make
a point of checking in with God. The check list above can help us do this.
Click here to hear a short song “Life
is Good” ….. https://youtu.be/fCFJANkwo5Y
SPIRITUAL
GIFTS TEST (the best one I’ve
ever seen) http://www.sdrock.com/giftstest/ Giftstest.com is a free online spiritual gifts assessment provided by the Rock Church in San Diego. The
original gifts test was designed by the pastoral team at the Rock with the goal
of empowering and encouraging our congregation to understand their spiritual
gifts and where to apply them in their communities.
“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets,
the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of
service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we
all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become
mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” Ephesians 4:11-13 (NIV)
Buy
the book by Gordon McDonald here:
http://www.coregroups.org/
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