How many are my iniquities and sins? Make me know my disobedience and my sin. Job 13:23
He who conceals his sins doesn’t prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy. Proverbs 28:13
For us to maintain our connection to the Lord and all his blessings we need to deal with our sins. The sin that we allow in our lives will block the flow of God’s provision. But as we take time to examine our lives through the lens of the word of God the Holy Spirit will show us where we have fallen short of God’s standards. Then we can apply the remedy of 1 John 1:9 that, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Once we agree with God about the transgressions we have committed we receive cleansing immediate. All hindrances in our relationship with the Lord Jesus are removed and his provision can flows freely to us again.
This list of self-examination questions will help you discover specific sins to confess and remove from your life. It is helpful to go through this list a least once a week.
I. Sins against God.
Have I been:
- Putting God second in my life or neglect to follow the principles of his kingdom? “But seek first God’s kingdom, and his righteousness. . .” Matthew 6:33.
- Resisting God or not listing to his voice? “Today if you will hear his voice, Don’t harden your hearts,” Hebrews 3:15.
- Disregarding God’s will: ” [prove or find out] what is well-pleasing to the Lord,” Ephesians 5:10.
- Ungrateful toward God: “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus toward you,” 1 Thessalonians 5:18.
- Cherishing sin: “If I cherished sin in my heart, The Lord wouldn’t have listened.” Psalms 66:18.
- Tempting God: “Again and again they put God to the test; they vexed the Holy One of Israel. They did not remember his power–the day he redeemed them from the oppression. . .” (Psalms 78:41-42).
- Self-righteous: If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8).
II. Sins of Character.
Have I been:
- Controlled by anything other than God’s Spirit? “Don’t be drunken with wine…but be filled with the Spirit,” Ephesians 5:18.
- Trusting in my own abilities or wisdom? “Trust in The LORD with all your heart, And don’t lean on your own understanding.” Proverbs 3:5.
- Depending on other sources or trusting in man rather than God? “Thus says The Lord: Cursed is the man who trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from The Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, a salt land and not inhabited,” Jeremiah 17:5-6.
- Disobedient? “To him therefore who knows to do good, and doesn’t do it, to him it is sin,” James 4:17.
- Abusing my body? “Or don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you…Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s,” 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20.
- Prideful? “Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to The Lord…” Proverbs 16:5.
- Self-glorifying? “But now you glory in your boasting. All such boasting is evil,” (James 4:16).
- Conceited? “For if a man thinks himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself,” Galatians 6:3.
- Hypocritical? “This people honors me with their lips, But their heart is far from me,” Mark 7:6.
- Worldly? “Don’t love the world, neither the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the Father’s love isn’t in him,” 1 John 2:15.
- Lustful? “Where do wars and fightings among you come from? Don’t they come from your pleasures that war in your members?” James 4:1.
- Greedy? “Beware! Keep yourselves from covetousness, for a man’s life doesn’t consist of the abundance of the things which he possesses,” Luke 12:15.
- Rebelling against authority? “Subject yourselves one to another in the fear of Christ,” Ephesians 5:21; “Let every soul be in subjection to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those who exist are ordained by God,” Romans 13:1.
- Wasteful of my time? “Therefore watch carefully how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise; redeeming the time, because the days are evil,” Ephesians 5:15-16.
- Double minded? “But let him ask in faith, without any doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed. For let that man not think that he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways,” James 1:6-8.
- Moved by what I see? “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord,” 1 Corinthians 15:58; “For we walk by faith, not by sight,” 2 Corinthians 5:7.
- Not guarding my tongue? “He who would love life, and see good days, Let him keep his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit,” 1 Peter 3:10.
- Not resting in the Lord: “There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For he who has entered into his rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from his. Let us therefore give diligence to enter into that rest, lest anyone fall after the same example of disobedience.” Hebrews 4:9-11.
- (For Husbands) Not demonstrating the love, respect and consideration to my wife: “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the assembly, and gave himself up for it,” Ephesians 5:25; “You husbands, in like manner, live with your wives according to knowledge, giving honor to the woman, as to the weaker vessel, as being also joint heirs of the grace of life; that your prayers may not be hindered,” 1 Peter 3:7
- (For wives) Not submitting to or respecting my husband: “For this is how the holy women before, who hoped in God, also adorned themselves, being in subjection to their own husbands,” 1 Peter 3:5; “…and let the wife see that she respects her husband,” Ephesians 5:33b.
III. Sins of Conduct.
Have I been:
- Unwilling to demonstrate love to my fellow Christians? “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, just like I have loved you; that you also love one another,” John 13:34.
- Afraid to share my faith? “For God didn’t give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control. Therefore don’t be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord…” 2 Timothy 1:7-8.
- Guilty of lying or deception? “Therefore, putting away falsehood, speak truth each one with his neighbor,” Ephesians 4:25.
- Lax in my church attendance? ” Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good works, not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is,” Hebrews 10:25.
- Unwilling to forgive others? “But if you don’t forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses,” Matthew 6:15.
- Reluctant to share my wealth and possessions? “In all things I gave you an example, that so laboring you ought to help the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’,” Acts 20:35.
- Immoral? “For this is the will of God: your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality,” 1 Thessalonians 4:3.
- Stealing? “Let him who stole steal no more,” Ephesians 4:28.
- Judging and speaking evil of others? “Don’t speak against one another, brothers. He who speaks against a brother and judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge. 12 Only one is the lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge another?” James 4:11, 12.
- Unable to control my anger? “Be angry, and don’t sin.” Don’t let the sun go down on your wrath, neither give place to the devil… Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, outcry, and slander, be put away from you, with all malice,” Ephesians 4:26, 27, 31.
- Causing disputes or strife? “Do all things without murmurings and disputes, 15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God…” Philippians 2:14-15.
- Envying others? “If we live by the Spirit, let’s also walk by the Spirit. Let’s not become conceited, provoking one another, and envying one another,” Galatians 5:25-26.
- Revengeful? “See that no one returns evil for evil to anyone, but always follow after that which is good, for one another, and for all,” 1 Thessalonians. 5:15.
- Hateful? “But he who hates his brother is in the darkness, and walks in the darkness, and doesn’t know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes,” 1 John 2:11.
- Weakening a fellow Christian’s faith? “It is good to not eat meat, drink wine, nor do anything by which your brother stumbles, is offended, or is made weak,” Romans 14:21.
- Leading others into sin? “It is impossible that no occasions of stumbling should come, but woe to him through whom they come,” Luke 17:1.
- Speaking word of doubt? “Yes, they spoke against God. They said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?” Psalms 78:19.
- Impatient with others? “Let your gentleness be known to all men,” Philippians 4:5.
Copyright © 2007-2011 by Alan Pasho. All rights reserved.
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