I don’t know about you, but I am a pretty good liar when it comes to a self-evaluation. It’s kind of like looking in the mirror: I see the 18-year-old body I use to have and not the 50-year-old body I now have.
Doing a spiritual self-evaluation is much the same way. Many times we only see the good we are or the good we do. We never look at the bad side of ourselves. For the most part, I think we are afraid to be honest with ourselves because of what we might find.
The hard part is admitting to something wrong in your life and then having to deal with it. But how can you and I work on becoming better Christians if we never work on the bad stuff?
“Let us examine and probe our ways, and let us return to the Lord” (Lam. 3:40, NASB).
So, what do I look for in a spiritual self-evaluation? Sin! Sin is like cancer—if you don’t deal with it, it will consume you.
Unfortunately, though, most Christian men do not have a clue to what is and is not sin. Why is that? Well, first and foremost, we are not in the Word! Our generation has become a biblically illiterate generation.
We have allowed the world to become our moral compass instead of God’s Word and have forgotten that God has a different idea of what is and is not sin. We have the mindset of “If everyone is doing it, it must be OK!” This is obviously not true in God’s Word!
Second, we don’t pray. And when we don’t pray, we don’t repent. We cannot have a true spiritual revival of the heart with it full of sin. Psalm 119:11 says “Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You.” So, since most men don’t read, much less memorize, Scripture, sin abounds in one’s heart. We must repent of these sins in order to return to have a true fellowship with Christ.
As you start your self-evaluation, begin by getting into God’s Word every day. I tell men I disciple not to eat physically till they haven “eaten” spiritually. Then mediate and pray on the Word you read. Hide it in your heart and ask God to show you the sins in your life. Then repent! This is the only way to grow spiritually. Try to be better today, in God’s eyes, than you were yesterday.
Below are some tough questions to ask yourself as a Christian man. Start your spiritual self-evaluation today. Be diligent in your spiritual self-evaluation, and do it often. Be tough on yourself; it will help you become a better person and a better Christian.
1. Have you spent daily time in the Scriptures and in prayer?
2. Have you had any impure thoughts that would not glorify God?
3. Have you been completely above reproach in your financial dealings?
4. Have you spent quality relationship time with family and friends?
5. Have you done your 100-percent best in your job, school, home, etc.?
6. Have you told any half-truths or outright lies, putting yourself in a better light to those around you?
7. Have you shared the gospel with an unbeliever this week?
8. Have you taken care of your body through daily physical exercise and proper eating/sleeping habits?
9. Have you allowed any person or circumstance to rob you of your joy?
10. Have you lied on any of your answers today?
What question or questions apply to you and share what you are going to do about!
Jody Burkeen
Man Up God’s Way
discerning-dad.com 
I totally resonate with the idea of “lying to yourself” when it comes to how well you are doing. In the Catholic tradition (and probably Eastern Orthodox, too) we have “spiritual directors” – usually a priest or other religious. These are people we choose to go to, lay out everything going on in our lives, and trust the Holy Spirit to speak through them to us. This is kind of what happens in the confessional, too. Sometimes we are to hard on ourselves and sometimes we aren’t hard enough.
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I am thinking about what you wrote in this post. I am just the opposite. I am always looking at the bad things about myself and spend much time thinking of God’s Word or in prayer. Maybe I live in a cave alone, so to speak. I have heard said and observed that many people don’t blame themselves for anything they have done wrong. Me? I blame myself for just about everything. In fact, I have struggled to not do that and to learn to love myself, when I only hated myself. So I guess I’m at the other extreme and working back into the center. And the previous comment by the Catholic man reminds me that they have the protestants beat completely because they confess their faults to someone and get counseled about it. How helpful and wonderful that would be? Anyways, thanks for the thought provoking piece that you posted.
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