How would you assess your spiritual health? Is it related to how busy you are for the Lord? How good your intentions are toward your wife? How much outward fruit is evident in your ministry? Although there are outward evidences of a rooted Christian, I don’t believe any of these are the best measuring sticks for spiritual growth.
In 10 Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health, author Donald Whitney suggests convicting and probing questions to help you gauge where you are spiritually.
Every one of these ten questions gripped my heart:
- Do you thirst for God?
- Are you governed increasingly by God’s Word?
- Are you more loving?
- Are you more sensitive to God’s presence?
- Do you have a growing concern for the spiritual and temporal needs of others?
- Do you delight in the bride of Christ?
- Are the spiritual disciplines increasingly important to you?
- Do you still grieve over sin?
- Are you a quicker forgiver?
- Do you yearn for heaven and to be with Jesus?
These pointed questions help us scope out our own walk with the Lord, probing deeper than outward appearances.
The book is not long (112 pages), but the author deals with each of these topics biblically and thoroughly, providing practical instruction on growth for each area. This book was so helpful, in fact, that this past Sunday I asked the men of our church to read it. (While the author uses multiple Bible versions and quotes a few authors we would not endorse, for those who are willing to “spit out the bones,” there is helpful meat here.)
If you want to increase your spiritual vitality and intentionally strengthen your spiritual health, this book will be a friend to you.
