Biblical Self-Assessment

Matt Wood

Sermon • Submitted 4 years ago

0 ratings

· 639 views

As believers in Christ it is vitally important that we honestly evaluate ourselves to determine if we are living and thinking as we should.

Notes

Transcript

Introduction

You and I, and the majority of those who would call themselves “Christians”, are often guilty of deceiving ourselves into believing that we are much more spiritual than we truly are.

We often look at outward conformity and assume true spirituality but the fact that you go to church, that you tithe and give to missions, the fact that you do not listen to or watch ungodly music or television, the fact that you dress and talk as a Christian should does not necessarily mean that you are spiritual.

These things are good and right but they should be the product of spirituality not the measure of it.

We have a natural tendency to overestimate our spirituality, failing to recognize our own shortcomings and overvaluing our spiritual activity.

This morning I want to challenge you, just as the Lord has challenged me, to take a real honest assessment of your spirituality on the basis of the Word of God.

My fear is that far too many of us have convinced ourselves that we are quite spiritual because we are doing what is expected of us, but if we were to measure our spirituality by the scriptures we would be found lacking.

The fact is that being a spiritual individual involves much more than these basic elementary activities alone.

Today we will examine two primary measures of spirituality and in the light of these important truths we shall be able to honestly evaluate ourselves.

What is it that actually makes a person spiritual? Spirituality involves:

Absolute Submission (Vs. 1)

Paul begins this portion of his letter to the Roman church with an exhortation connected to what has already told them in the earlier part of the letter.

Paul instructs them that God’s mercy towards them demands that they surrender themselves in totality to God in return.

Paul states that it is their, as well as it it our, reasonable service to present themselves to God has a living sacrifice.

If we are going to honestly assess ourselves we must do so in light of this instruction from the Apostle Paul and truly from the Spirit of God.

Paul urges and even implores the believers at Rome of their duty to present or offer themselves up to God.

Christian can I ask you a question today? Have you ever really surrendered yourself to God? Have you presented yourself on the altar as a living sacrifice to God?

The question this morning is not have you surrendered some specific area of your life, but have you surrendered yourself?

It seems that the majority of professing “Christians” are content to present certain areas of their lives to the Lord but very few have ever presented themselves to God.

God’s desire is to have absolute ownership of your body for the scripture says that your body is now become the temple of the Holy Ghost and you are no longer your own because you have been bought with a price. (I Corinthians 6:19-20)

Have you in a sense retained the ownership rights to your body or have you signed over ownership to Christ? Take a moment now and examine the evidence.

Romans 6:19- prior to our salvation we yielded our bodies to uncleanness and iniquity but now we must yield our member to righteousness and holiness

Consider what you have done this past week the places your body has gone and the activities that it has engaged in. Based on this evidence who appears to have ownership of it?

We must be willing to surrender our rights to allow God to do with us what He wills! Would you today offer yourself to God that He may take possession of your life and do with it what you would never be able to do with it yourself?

Spirituality also involves:

Continual Tranformation (Vs. 2)

We can see strong evidence that far too many who profess Christ have allowed themselves to be conformed to this world rather than to be transformed by the Spirit of God and the Word of God.

We may not recognize it but we are often guilty of this conformity to the world ourselves. This conformity or transformation has its origins in the mind of the believer.

So often we as Christians have allowed the world to shape our thinking. We have formed thoughts, opinions, positions, and convictions based on the culture around us rather than the Spirit of God within us.

The mark of the spiritual man or woman is that their thinking is constantly being transformed through the work of the Spirit of God in combination with the Word of God.

This continual transformation begins in the mind but will be seen practically in the life of the believer.

There are many believers who are no longer being transformed, who because of their desire for conformity with the world have ceased to allow the Spirit of God to transform them.

Those who are truly spiritual are continuing to be transformed even many years after their salvation. The truth is that the transformation process will not be completed until we are made like unto Christ.

We must cease from allowing the world to influence our thinking even in the most subtle ways if we are to be transformed into the image of Christ!

As we make conscious choices throughout our daily lives may we seek the Lord and strive to have the mind of Christ instead of allowing the world to influence our thinking.

It is also through this continual process of transformation that we shall be able to discern what the will of God is for our lives. So many believers struggle to know the will of God because the world has too large an influence upon them and the Spirit has too small an influence.

Now that we recognize these two aspects of spirituality it is time for an:

Honest Evaluation (Vs. 3)

Let us not now think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think but let us honestly examine ourselves to determine how we are doing spiritually.

Let us ask ourselves the questions “Have I ever truly surrendered myself to God?” and “Am I allowing God to continually transform me?”

The nature that we have of overestimating our own competence has been given a name by psychologists. It is called the Dunning Kruger Effect.

This is described as “a cognitive bias in which people with low ability at a task overestimate their ability. It is related to the cognitive bias of illusory superiority and comes from the inability of people to recognize their lack of ability. Without the self-awareness of metacognition, people cannot objectively evaluate their competence or incompetence.”

This is clearly seen as many believers assess their spirituality. It is only natural that those who are least spiritual would overestimate their spirituality to a great degree.

Illustration- Mcarthur Wheeler- was convinced that he was a very competent bank robber when in 1995 he walked into two Pittsburgh banks and robbed them in broad daylight without any visible attempt to disguise his identity. Several hours later the surveillance footage from the banks was aired on the 11 o’clock news and within a very short time Wheeler was arrested. Once arrested, the officers played Wheeler the surveillance footage which had identified him as the assailant. Wheeler mumbled "…but I used the juice” under his breath as he watched the footage. It turns out Wheeler had been somehow convinced that by rubbing lemon juice on his face his identity would be concealed and he would be able to get away with the robbery. How could a man so incompetent be so convinced of his own competency as a bank robber?

Let us now turn to a scriptural example of the same phenomena. Think of the Pharisees who where so convinced of their own spirituality that they completely failed to recognize that they were lost in theirs sins with no hope apart from Christ. Luke 18:10-12- the Pharisee was convinced that he was much more spiritual than the publican but in the end it was the publican who was justified before God.

Then we must examine ourselves further to gain a true understanding of our own spirituality or lack thereof. How are we really doing? Have we surrendered ourselves to God? Do we remain surrendered to Him today? Are we continuing to allow the Spirit of God to transform us? Have we allowed ourselves to become conformed to this world?

Are there areas of our lives that we refuse to surrender to God? Are there areas that we simply will not allow Him to transform? Have we grown content with our current spiritual state?

Conclusion

If you have never surrendered yourself to God, would you present yourself as a living sacrifice to Him today?

If you have refused to let God continue the transformation he desires in your life would you come today and ask God to continue the process?

Maybe today you recognize that there has never really been a desire to surrender to God or to be transformed. My counsel to you is that you do as Paul instructed the Corinthians to do- II Corinthians 13:5- examine yourself whether you are truly saved.

Let us not be fooled into believing that we are more spiritual or more godly than we truly are!

Related Media

Related Sermons