Saturday, March 03, 2007

X-Ray Questions

The Apostle Paul tells us to examine and test ourselves (2 Cor. 13:5; cf. 1 Cor. 11:28). The more you know rightly about God, the better you know yourself; and the better you know yourself, the more you'll understand about God (as Calvin observes in the opening pages of the Institutes.

Toward that end, David Powlison has developed a number of "X-Ray Questions" that can be used to examine your soul. They were recently reprinted in Paul Tripp and Tim Lane's book, How People Change. They write: "These questions can help you think more clearly and deeply about why you do the things you do. They can give you a better idea of which things typically morph from good to god in your life. These discoveries are a blessing because they help you to see how truly lavish the grace of God is."

Phil Auxier has posted them to his blog: see part 1, part 2, and part 3.

I know the spirit of the blogosphere lends itself to ripping through things quickly, but I'd encourage you to consider printing these out and working through the slowly, learning more about yourself, your gods, and your God.