Self Examination

UV 891/10,000 Self Examination Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith, test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you-unless, of course, you fail the test? 2 Corinthians 13 v 5 Socrates, one of the wisest men who ever lived, said, “ An unexamined life is not worth living.” The contrary is also true that a life that is constantly examined is worth living. This uni-verse underlines the importance of examining ourselves to find out whether we are in the faith. We also need to examine how strong or weak is our faith and find ways to strengthen it further. Just as we do exercises to increase the strength of our muscles, the Lord allows troubles and trials in our lives as exercises for our faith so that it is strengthened further. We need a master check up of our bodies once a year. But our souls are so important that we need a Master check up of our faith virtually every day. Self examination is not about self flagellation or self glorification. It is about submitting to the Holy Spirit’s diagnosis. The Holy Spirit will flash His light on the areas we need to change and change faster. Faith is not sticking to the status quo. It is all about change management. Change challenges us but challenge changes us. Our faith grows in direct proportion to the challenges we face. David’s faith grew manifold as he faced up to the challenge of Goliath. My faith grew when I faced up to the challenge of the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi and its aftermath. When we judge ourselves, we will not be judged by the Lord. Acid is used to test the purity and nature of different metals and substances. The acid test for our faith is how strong is it in different life situations and challenges. Is it overcome or is it strong enough to help us overcome? I was just watching the interview of the 16 year old Malala who survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban and has become a champion for the human rights and womens’ rights movement. Her terrible experience has not led to her faith in the power and need of education to change herself and the world. It has only increased manifold and inspiring many across the globe. If experience is the acid test, the litmus test of our faith is that are we expressing it in love for God and our fellow beings? We need to examine whether we are in Christ and whether Christ is in us. We need to examine every day our faith in Christ every day of our lives. We need to examine whether we are living our lives in accordance with our faith and His Word. We can prepare our own check list to examine if our faith and lives are in order every day: are we spending time reading the Word every single day? Are we spending time at the feet of Jesus in prayer and silence every day? Are we praising and worshipping the Lord on a regular basis? Are we claiming the promises of God every day to face every kind of challenge of that day? Are we proclaiming His Word and His glory every day to the people we meet? Are we having fellowship with other believers? Are we giving enough of our time, talent and resources to help others in their need? Are we applying the truths we are learning every day in a practical way to improve our lives and that of others? Is our faith a little stronger than the day before? Recently, when I attended a seminar led by the famous author Brian Tracy he said that even a 0.6 per cent improvement in any aspect of our lives per day would lead to a 26 per cent improvement per year. Indeed, we need to keep doing what we can in faith and we will end up doing what we cannot. Prateep V Philip