Intro to Personal Spiritual Assessments

Your spiritual journey as a follower of Christ began the moment you admitted personal sin and placed your trust in Christ as Savior and Lord. From that point, until death or the return of Christ, you are called to be more Christlike, to be a disciple.

Jesus summarizes the disciple’s call in Mark 8:34-38 –

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels.”

We know this is not easy.

Accomplishing such a challenging assignment requires growing in your understanding of what it means to be a Christian, expanding your personal knowledge of Biblical truth, and applying daily what you learn. Through the presence of His indwelling Spirit, God enables you to know, obey, and serve Him.

God expects His children to grow spiritually and His Word encourages personal examination as an element of growth. It's good and healthy for Christians to regularly take an inventory of how we're doing spiritually.

“Let us search out and examine our ways…” Lamentations 3:40

“Now, the Lord of Hosts says this: ‘Think carefully about your ways.’” Haggai 1:5

“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns. See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the everlasting way.” Psalm 139:23-24

“But each person should examine his own work, and then he will have a reason for boasting in himself alone, and not in respect to someone else.” Galatians 6:4

“Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk—not as unwise people, but as wise.” Ephesians 5:15

But how can we know in which areas, we need to focus? Well just like when you entered a new grade (at least when I was in school), there was an assessment test. Only this is not a pass/fail test, this is a tool for personal evaluation of where you are spiritually.

This assessment will allow the individuals to rank themselves in various aspects of their Christian walk, finding both strengths and weaknesses. This benchmark will allow each person to mark certain areas in which they should focus on growth and other areas where “only” maintenance is necessary.

It is our hope that this assessment will help you regain focus and priority in your spiritual walk. And if we can work to strengthen our personal relationships to God, the entire Body will be strengthened. “Seeing” Jesus is not KNOWING Jesus. We want members to be on a life long quest for wisdom, truth, understanding and most of all active discipleship. Ask, Seek and Knock are not passive commands. Luke Warm members are unhealthy members. We want the good to be better and the better to become their best.

The assessment helps you think carefully about your spiritual development related to specific spiritual disciplines; abiding in Christ, living in the Word, praying in faith, fellowship with believers, witnessing to the world, ministering to others, defending the faith, personal walk, etc. Before completing your responses, ask the Lord to guide your evaluation. Since most of these statements require a subjective response, His guidance is the key to an accurate appraisal. Also, resist the urge to compare scores with others. Self-condemnation or pride could result from such comparisons. Trust God to help you grow spiritually by revealing key issues and empowering you to take action.

This PSA is for you and your growth and will be kept private. I will be the only one looking at them and gathering collective data, then they will be returned to you. We, as a class, are only interested in group data, not personal responses, those are for you and your walk.

You can believe the Devil and his minions have already completed an assessment on you. He knows exactly where and when to attack. Shouldn't you at least be aware of those areas? So, please be honest and real with this assessment. Not where you should be, but where you are right now.

NOTE: I realize not everyone is in a “good” place right now and your outlook and assessment may not be crystal clear, but complete it anyway. Even if you can't commit to this class, even if you are not in a place of clarity, walk with us. Allow us to help. Be carried along by people who care about you.