“Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you – unless indeed you fail the test.” 2 Corinthians 13:5 NASB
“Test yourself to make sure you are solid in the faith. Don’t drift along taking everything for granted. Give yourselves regular checkups. You need first-hand evidence, not merely hearsay, that Jesus Christ in you. Test it out. If you fail the test, do something about it.” 2 Corinthians 13:5 The Message
We go to the doctor to get a physical checkup. Have you ever given yourself a spiritual check-up? It is good to get in the habit of evaluating your own spiritual health.How do you test yourself to see if you are solid in the faith? What would be a good litmus test? In other words, what is an effective way to evaluate your spiritual health? I suppose there are many ways to do that. But as I thought and prayed about it, one word came to mind. The word love.
When Jesus was asked - what is the greatest commandment? “Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:36-40 NLT
Jesus communicated the importance of love here in Matthew. Jesus said that the entire Law and all words of the Prophets are based, hung on, rely on, these 2 commandments. In other words, all the other commandments of God are designed to help people show their love for God and for others. Of all the verses, chapters, and pages of the Bible, the 66 books, 1,189 chapters, and over 31,000 verses, Jesus summed it all up by giving us two simple statements - short enough to write on a post-it note. Love God. Love others.
Learning to love God and others is to be our primary objective in life. Love is to be our greatest ambition, our greatest motivation. Every day we should pray - Lord, teach me how to love. So, how do we evaluate our spiritual health? Are you learning to love God and others? Chris Tiegreen wrote - If love isn’t central to your Christian life, your Christian life isn’t very Christian.