There are a number of pitfalls that you need to be aware of if you are going to measure our spiritual health with the purpose of growing and developing as a follower of Jesus. These are things that could slow your progress or even send you into a downward spiral.

Let’s look at five things you DON’T want to do when you are measuring your spiritual health.

1. Don’t compare yourself to anyone else – this will either lead to judgemental and prideful thinking, or to thoughts of inferiority, which are equally destructive.
2. Don’t beat yourself up, you’re human – remember that spiritual growth is an incremental thing. A work in progress if you like. We are never going to be perfect. Learn from your mistakes and keep moving forward.
3. Don’t think that you can manipulate God – applying God’s principles in your life is not a way to get God to do what you want him to do. Period. It’s not a points scoring system where you do something for God and he is obliged to do something for you. Our choice to develop ourselves on the spiritual plane is born out of our gratitude for God’s gift of grace.
4. Don’t think that God will love you any more if you do more or try harder – God loves you. Full stop.
5. Don’t spend all of your time navel gazing and use it as an excuse not to act – we learn the most and grow the most through actively applying God’s principles in our lives. Get out there. Live. Love. Learn.

What pitfalls have you discovered along the way?

I’ve been trying too hard again.

Worrying too much about something out of my control.

Striving to do something that’s not mine to do.

God gave me a swift kick these past two days at the Global Leadership Summit….and then a sweet reminder this morning through Ragamuffin Soul.

Be still and know God. He is not in the BUSY.

All I need to do is be obedient to his calling. He’ll make sure the rest of it works the way it’s supposed to.

Sorry I needed reminding Lord. Thank you for your unending grace and patience. Amen

Before my unexpectedly long break from the keyboard we started talking about measuring our spiritual health, and I promised a follow up post. As it happens I have enough material for a couple of posts, so before I launch into that I want to share a way to help you see how  you measure up to God’s gold standard.

While I was recovering from my surgery I listened to a lot of audio books. One of those was a meaty little book called Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God by Francis Chan. It was possibly one of the most confronting and convicting books that I have read in a very long time. I highly recommend you grab yourself a copy and strap yourself in for a wild ride.

Chan suggests the following exercise to see how you’re going on your journey towards Christlike-ness.

Take the words found in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a (NIV)…

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self‑seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails.

and insert your name into the verses….so for me it would look like this…

Michelle is patient, Michelle is kind. Michelle does not envy, Michelle does not boast, Michelle is not proud. Michelle is not rude, Michelle is not self‑seeking, Michelle is not easily angered, Michelle keeps no record of wrongs. Michelle does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. Michelle always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Michelle never fails.

What happens in your mind when you slip your name in there and read it out loud?

I can’t get past the first phrase without thinking LIAR! LIAR!

Now go back and switch your name out with Jesus’ name. Jesus is patient….Jesus is kind…Jesus does not envy…yup that works!

I’ve got a long way to go!