Accountability, Spiritual Formation, Wisdom

Evaluating and Inspecting Our Lives so we can Thrive

Thanks Dave Loveless

In the early 1720’s John & Charles Wesley were students at Oxford University in England. While there they began to refine a process for increasing piety through a systematic practice of personal accountability. The brothers encouraged other classmates to gather with them weekly for the purpose of discipleship and accountability.

Out of those discipleship meetings John developed a series of 22 questions that were used for evaluation of one’s life.

  1. Are you consciously or unconsciously creating the impression that you are better than you really are? In other words, are you a hypocrite? How do you know?
  2. Are you honest in all your acts and words, or do you exaggerate?
  3. Do you confidentially pass on to another what was told you in confidence?
  4. Can you be trusted? Why?
  5. Are you a slave to dress, friends, work, or habits? How would you know?
  6. Are you self-conscious, self-pitying, or self-justifying?
  7. Did the Bible live in you this week? Can you share an example?
  8. Do you give it time to speak to you every day? What do you hear?
  9. Do you enjoy praying? Why?
  10. When did you last speak to someone else about your faith? What was their response?
  11. Do you pray about the money you spend? What are the answers?
  12. Do you get to bed on time and get up on time? If not, what’s getting in the way?
  13. Do you disobey God in anything? If yes, what is an example? If no, see question 2.
  14. Do you insist upon doing something about which my conscience is uneasy? Why and what or why not?
  15. Am you defeated in any part of your life? What would that be? What are you doing about gaining victory?
  16. Am you jealous, impure, critical, irritable, touchy, or distrustful? How do you know?
  17. How do you spend your spare time? Give some examples.
  18. Are you a proud person? How do you think your closest friends would answer that question about you?
  19. Do you thank God that you are not as other people (like the Pharisee who despised the publican)? How would you know you are not like that?
  20. Is there anyone whom you fear, dislike, disown, criticize, hold a resentment toward or disregard? If so, what are you doing about that attitude?
  21. Do you grumble or complain constantly? How would you know?
  22. Is Christ real to you? What are the evidences?

Author: Steve

I love to study the Bible and I love to engage with others in learning. I had been privileged to do this on a regular basis through church ministry and through part-time teaching at a local Bible colleges. Helping individuals learn to feed themselves through their own study of God’s Word is joy-giving to me. Influencing groups to do life and church from a biblically grounded, theologically faithful perspective is my passion.

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