10 Questions for an end-of-the-year Spiritual Checkup (Part 1 of 3)

10 Questions for an end-of-the-year Spiritual Checkup

(Part 1 of 3)

Once a year it’s wise to get a physical check-up – to make sure we are physically well.  The reason being that we are not static beings – we change from year to year.  Sometimes (usually when we’re young) we get stronger and healthier.  Other times, our health declines.

Our spiritual health is very much like our physical health in this respect.  There are periods in our lives when we are growing – even flourishing – spiritually, and other times when we are suffering setback after setback.  In the next three installments of my Sunday offering, we will go through a 10-point checklist to evaluate how our spiritual life is right now and offer some possible remedies in the areas where we could use some help.

1.     Are you more aware of sin in your life?  At first glance this may seem counter-intuitive.  Most of us think that spiritual progress means we have fewer sins, and this is true with one important caveat.  The testimony of the saints is that, as we mature in our walk with Christ, we do commit fewer and less “grave” sins, but we also become more sensitive to and repulsed by those “smaller” sins.  A passage from The Prologue from Ochrid makes this point well:

The more a man advances in spiritual knowledge and in purification of the heart, the more it appears to him that the depth in which he finds himself is even lower and that the height to which he strives is even higher. When one spiritual giant on his death bed heard that his companions were praising him because of his great asceticism, he began to weep and said, "My children, I have not even begun my spiritual life".

2.     Do you have a growing list of questions regarding the faith?  This shouldn’t require much explanation.  If we are studying the scriptures, reading the lives of the saints and trying to put all of this into practice in our lives, there will be questions.  If we aren’t then there won’t (it’s that simple).

                                                             

3.     How is your generosity?  Or, does your budget reflect a commitment to funding God’s work in the world?  The only resources that God has (think time, talent and treasure) are our resources.  And it’s not coincidental that Jesus talked about stewardship and money a lot.  Depending on how you count, roughly half of the parables in the gospels address the topic of money.  Some of the strongest statements we hear out of he mouth of Jesus are on the topic of money (Where your treasure is there your heart will be also (Matt. 6:21), and You cannot serve God and money (Matt. 6:24)).

Like it or not, how we use the resources God has lent to us speaks directly to the health of our soul.   God has promised us through the scriptures, he will be with you, he will not fail you or forsake you (Deut. 31:8).  Do we believe this?  Do we believe the words of King David, I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging bread (Ps. 37:25).

Its impossible to be serious in our walk with God if we aren’t proving that seriousness by committing our time, talent and treasure to God’s work.

- Offered by Fr. Panteleimon Dalianis