“A Sober Estimate”– 40 Questions for Personal Revival

Romans 12 challenges us to righty, soberly assess ourselves and our faith.

“I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.”  ~Romans 12:3

Amidst non-stop workweeks, exhausting weekends, kids that need daily correction and meals, sin and sorrow, never-ending cycles of change around us, fighting the things that don’t seem to change within us, and coming up against preteens, preschoolers, puberty, and postpartum exhaustion, it is far too easy to grow complacent as a mom… to become satisfied with keeping the status quo, even if the status quo ain’t great. 

We need God’s Spirit to help us cut through all the noise, sweat, tears, and “laser lights” of life, so that we can make a right self-evaluation.

Here are 40 question for self-evaluation and personal revival:

1. Am I a child of God? Was there a time in my life when I received Jesus Christ?
2. Have I trusted in the grace of God and the shed blood of Jesus to save me, apart from any good works I may have done?
3. Do I recognize that I am under “new ownership,” that my life is not my own any longer, that I have been “bought with a price,” and that I belong to God?
4. Is my relationship with God the most important thing in my life? Am I daily cultivating a meaningful, intimate relationship with Him?
5. Do unsaved people in my community and workplace know that I am a Christian? 
6. Do I consider it a privilege to be known as a child of God?
7. Do I quickly identify myself as a believer when I come in contact with unbelievers?
8. Do I reflect His holiness, integrity, and spirit in conduct and dealings with others?
9. When those around me have a personal or spiritual need, do they come to me to help them find real answers?
10. Do I consider others before myself?
11. Do I rejoice when others are praised or promoted, even if I am overlooked?
12. Am I more aware of my faults and spiritual poverty than I am of the faults and failures of those around me?
13. Do I desire to serve those in my family, church, and community, and make them a success?
14. Am I quick to admit when am wrong and to seek forgiveness?
15. Do I grieve over my sin and how it affects a holy God?
16. Am I honest and transparent with others regarding areas of spiritual need in my life?
17. When a relationship is strained or broken, do I take the initiative to go and be reconciled?
18. Do I take personal responsibility for the conditions of my life, rather than blaming circumstances or others who may have hurt me?
19. Am I quick to forgive those who wrong me, rather than harboring hurt?
20. Do I pray?
21. Do I have regular, concentrated times of prayer alone with the Lord?
22. Do I faithfully pray for my mate, my children, and other family members?
23. Do I pray regularly for my pastors, church, and other believers in my community?
24. Do I pray earnestly for revival and spiritual awakening in my community, my nation, and the world?
25. Do I pray specifically for the lost?
26. Do I regularly pray with other believers for God’s will to be done in my life?
27. When God prompts me during the day or night, am I quick to respond and pray? 
28. If revival in my home, church and community depended on my prayers, would there ever be revival?
29. Do I spend time daily at the feet of Jesus, listening to Him and worshipping Him?
30. Does Jesus occupy the center of my thoughts throughout the day? Is He the supreme object of my love?
31. Do I earnestly seek to learn more of God’s will and heart on a regular basis?
32. Do I desire to be in the company of God more than any human friend?
33. When I face difficult decisions, do I immediately turn to God for His wisdom?
34. Do I love righteousness and hate evil?
35. Am I quick to agree with God when He convicts me of sin?
36. Have I repented of and forsaken every action and habit that does not please God?
37. Have I repented of and forsaken every “secret” sin that God has shown me, even in my thoughts and private life?
38. Have I been thorough in my repentance, forsaking not only outward sins, but root sins, heart attitudes, and worldly values that produce those sins?
39. Am I accountable to a godly person for areas of my life where I may stumble?
40. Can I say there is no unconfessed sin in my life, and that my heart is pure?

Wowzers! Anyone else feeling brought low after reading that list?

I praise God for showing me, through questions like these, what a sinner I am, and how very much I need Him to renovate my heart and renew a right spirit within me. The wonderful news is, HE CAN DO IT:

Psalm 51:1-17

Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
    blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
    and cleanse me from my sin!

For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is ever before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
    and blameless in your judgment.
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
    and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
    and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
    wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
    let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins,
    and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
    and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence,
    and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and uphold me with a willing spirit.
Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
    and sinners will return to you.
Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,
    O God of my salvation,
    and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
O Lord, open my lips,
    and my mouth will declare your praise.
For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
    you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
    a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

IN THE COMMENTS: Please share which one (or more) of these things that– if implemented– would make a significant impact on your spiritual walk.

 

***  I did not write these questions, but recently found them from a retreat we went on many years ago, and decided to share them here, so that I can find them again in the future, and in hopes that they will help others. On the sheet that I found, they are unattributed, and a google search did not return any other written forms of these questions. I would be happy to give credit if someone knows who wrote them.