Spiritual Check-Up

When I love God, I know who He is to me and who I am to Him. He chose me to become part of Him. And it's all because He's deeply and crazily in love with me. It's undeserving, but all I have to do is to love Him back the same way He loves me.

But there are times where that pursuit of love starts, and then after a while it's gone. Everything has changed. And little by little, there is a tendency to become halfhearted, partially committed or eventually unenthusiastic.

This calls for a need to examine the heart if our actions have pointed to living out the life we chose in Him. If we do, then they should show a burning love for Him.

I have here a list of ways on how a person strongly loves God. You can check and see if these are also your ways of loving Him.

[ ] When reading God's Word and meditate on it, I take in all what it says for it makes me spiritually nourished.

[ ] When praying to God, I see it as a way to build a close friendly relationship with Him.

[ ] When singing songs to God, I praise and worship Him out of the heart and it comes naturally. 

[ ] When hearing a message in church, I take it to heart and evaluate on how it's going to help me in my walk with God.

[ ] When I am rebuked by God's teaching, I accept correction. For it shows my humble and teachable spirit, and it can help me grow more spiritually.

[ ] When engaging with fellow believers, I accept them for who they are in spite of their flaws and imperfections. I give my love, care, encouragement and support in their spiritual journey.

[ ] Whenever I see a fellow believer who I think is at fault, I just let him be. I am patient to see him change for God is working on him.

[ ] When somebody faults me, I forgive them even when it has to be seventy times seven.

[ ] When being in a church, I'm there not because of what I can get, but because of what I can give or how I can serve to them.

[ ] When giving tithes/offerings, I give all that God owes cheerfully. I can do this even when difficulties come my way.

[ ] When serving God or others, there's no limit on how far I can go or how much I can give as long as I fulfill His purposes for His Kingdom.

[ ] When immersing myself to the world, I strive to always be at my very best so that others can see God through me.

[ ] When sharing my faith to others, I give them clear understanding of what God's love is like. In spite of the persecution and rejection I accept, I persevere until they will come to know His saving grace.

[ ] When facing sin, I try my best to fight them. I am saved by God from sin, so I should be holy because He is holy.

[ ] When dealing with selfishness, I have to die to myself. In doing this, I know that I should care for others and be considerate with them.

[ ] When being moved by stories about people doing radical things for Christ,  I am inspired to do such things as well. After all, Christians are called to do extraordinary things.

[ ] When seeing people around me, I see them as all equal in God's sight. There is no person better than the other. Therefore, I cannot promote my "goodness" by comparing myself to be better than others.

[ ] When considering my priorities in life, God is a part of my life. When I mean part of my life, He is part of everything that I do.

[ ] When loving God, I love Him with all of heart, soul, mind and strength. I also love others as much as I love myself.

[ ] When receiving God's blessings, I thank Him for them, and I consider giving as much as possible to the poor.

[ ] When encountering conflicts or issues, I fight for what God says about them for I know it's right. Popularity is not my main concern.  

[ ] When thinking about my life on Earth, I think of it as all about fulfilling my purpose and mission. I want to place value on my life in heaven, for it's where my real citizenship is.

[ ] When taking on my spiritual journey, I place my hope in God with everything I go through. He is in control of everything, therefore I live by faith.

[ ] When there is a need to take risk for God, I would have to. Though I do not know what comes ahead, I trust Him for He is in control.

[ ] When living out the Christian life, I understand what it's all about. I know the reason for these, and I do them out of my obedience to Him.  

If you've checked almost all or even all of them, then way to go. Continue this pursuit as long as you live and even on eternity. If you've checked half of them, then it's okay. Continue to walk with Him and you will eventually learn to love Him fully. If you've checked a few of them or none at all, then it's time to wake up and get serious in this pursuit.

I'm putting emphasis on this because we need to remind ourselves that it's very important for us to live for God everyday. It's not living for God for one day, and then drifting off two days after. When we live for Him, we are constantly molded to become more and more like Him until our hearts are ready to meet with Him for a fellowship of a lifetime.

When we chose to make that life-changing decision of accepting Him as our Lord and Savior, we also made a commitment to follow Him with our whole lives. Therefore, living by this commitment is important.

And when it comes to loving God passionately, it's about having the fire that makes us want to do anything for Him. The more we learn to do this, the more we can see ourselves having our best life ever.

Whatever hindrances we have in this pursuit, it's time to face and resolve them. There is always a prayer to God, the Bible, help from spiritual advisors and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Let's make it our aim to live our lives with a wholehearted love for Him all the way until the end, so that our lives are worth for Him in eternity.