Questions. They can be rhetorical or direct. They can be hard-hitting or frivolous.
Jesus used questions to get to the heart with those He met. In counseling, we say, “Accusations harden the heart, but questions prick the conscience.”
Questions can help us study the Scriptures as we ask the who, what, when, where, why, and how of a passage.
Questions can help us examine our own hearts and evaluate how we’re doing in our walks with God and our relationships with others.
Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll look at a few questions. Some that we can ask ourselves. Some that may help us understand God’s Word. And some that just may provoke us to think more deeply about certain subjects.
Questions & the Heart
A few months ago, after much prayer, we began attending a new church. One thing our new pastor does very effectively is to ask thought-provoking questions. In fact, he often opens a Bible study or sermon by asking one. I will share some of them over the next couple of weeks.
But today I’m going to start with a few personal ones.
I’m an on-again-off-again journaler. When I do journal, I often use questions to help me see how I’m doing in my walk beginning with the two great commandments: loving God and loving others (Matt. 22.37-40).
A good place to start is with John 14.15 and 1 Corinthians 13.4-7 as texts.
If you love Me, keep My commandments (Jn. 14.15).
4 Love is very patient and kind, never jealous or envious, never boastful or proud, 5 never haughty or selfish or rude. Love does not demand its own way. It is not irritable or touchy. It does not hold grudges and will hardly even notice when others do it wrong. 6 It is never glad about injustice, but rejoices whenever truth wins out. 7 If you love someone, you will be loyal to him no matter what the cost. You will always believe in him, always expect the best of him, and always stand your ground in defending him (1 Cor. 13.4-7 NLT).
My questions might go something like this:
On Loving God
Is there any area where I’m not obeying God? What do I need to do to change that? What is my plan to do so?
Have I been reading my Bible (listening) and praying (talking to Him)?
On Loving Others
How am I doing in the area of kindness? How about patience? Am I envious or jealous about anything? How is pride showing up in my life? Have I behaved selfishly or rudely toward anyone lately? Have I been touchy or irritable? Is there some area where I’m demanding my own way? Am I holding a grudge against anyone? Am I focused on God’s desire for truth? Have I been disloyal toward anyone? Do I believe the best of others and give them the benefit of the doubt?
Depending on my answers, do I need to ask God for forgiveness for anything?
Is there someone else I need to go to and seek forgiveness? When will I do that? (Bearing in mind that delayed obedience often becomes disobedience.)
An Important Part of the Christian Life
I’m not alone in asking heart-probing questions. In Psalm 139, David prayed:
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
24 And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.
Many passages of Scripture talk about the importance of self-examination:
Check up on yourselves. Are you really Christians? Do you pass the test? Do you feel Christ’s presence and power more and more within you? Or are you just pretending to be Christians when actually you aren’t at all (2 Cor. 13.5 NLT)?
Let us search out and examine our ways,
And turn back to the Lord (Lam. 3.40).
Others provide us with guidance to do so. Galatians 5 helps us compare a Spirit-controlled life to one where we are living our own way:
19 But when you follow your own wrong inclinations, your lives will produce these evil results: impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful pleasure, 20 idolatry, spiritism (that is, encouraging the activity of demons), hatred and fighting, jealousy and anger, constant effort to get the best for yourself, complaints and criticisms, the feeling that everyone else is wrong except those in your own little group—and there will be wrong doctrine, 21 envy, murder, drunkenness, wild parties, and all that sort of thing. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
22 But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control; and here there is no conflict with Jewish laws.
24 Those who belong to Christ have nailed their natural evil desires to his cross and crucified them there.
25 If we are living now by the Holy Spirit’s power, let us follow the Holy Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. 26 Then we won’t need to look for honors and popularity, which lead to jealousy and hard feelings.
And James encourages us to look into the mirror of God’s Word:
22 And remember, it is a message to obey, not just to listen to. So don’t fool yourselves. 23 For if a person just listens and doesn’t obey, he is like a man looking at his face in a mirror; 24 as soon as he walks away, he can’t see himself anymore or remember what he looks like. 25 But if anyone keeps looking steadily into God’s law for free men, he will not only remember it but he will do what it says, and God will greatly bless him in everything he does (Jas. 1.22-25 NLT).
While we can certainly get carried away with spiritual navel-gazing, self-examination is an important part of the Christian life. Just as periodic medical and dental exams can make us aware of physical problems before they become serious, checking our spiritual health can make us aware of problems so we can work on them with God’s help.
Are there questions you use for self-examination? How does asking them help you grow in your relationship with God and others? Share your thoughts in the comments section.
Next week we’ll go deeper with some questions Paul Tripp in the book How People Change calls “X-Ray Questions” that can help us see where we might not be worshipping God as we should.
Here is what has been happening this past week at Soul Survival:
“How God Uses Imperfect People”
“Are You Setting Your Children Up for Failure?”
“How to Forgive When You’re Not Feeling It”
“Polygamy & Our Acceptable Sins”
“The Care & Feeding of Prodigals”
And in case you missed it, our last newsletter:
“Proof of God’s Love While You’re Waiting”
Coming Up in the Daily Posts:
In the coming days, we’ll look at sin’s invisible hooks and discuss the battle for truth and religious liberty.
Be sure to sign up here so you won’t miss any of these upcoming daily posts.
You can also sign up here for occasional Christian living posts on a variety of subjects or the weekly newsletter.
Blessings,
Donna
I sometimes LINKUP with these blogs.
This post may contain affiliate links, but I only recommend books and resources that I believe are theologically sound and beneficial to the reader. Thank you for supporting this blog and ministry by supporting my links! There is no additional cost to you when you do.
10 Comments
Leave your reply.