In 2 Corinthians 13:5 I read, “Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith.” (NLT)
An unexamined experience is worthless.
There are people who are 50 years old who haven’t truly lived 50 years. Instead, they’ve lived one year 50 times. They make the same mistakes over and over again because they never stop and extract the lessons. They never ask, “What happened in this last year? What can I do differently so that I can live life better going forward?”
The Bible says I should take time to review my life: “Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith” (2 Corinthians 13:5 NLT).
When I examine my life experiences, look for two things:
Look for benefits. What have I really enjoyed in my life? Don’t just say, “I really enjoyed that job.” Ask, “What was it about that job that I really loved?” Don’t just say, “I really liked that class.” Ask, “What exactly about that class did I like? Why was it so fulfilling to me?” I’ll get little clues about where I should be headed with my life.
Look for patterns. Particularly, look for patterns in my failures. When I fail, I tend to do it the same way every time. So, look and ask, “Where have I failed in the past? What patterns do I keep repeating?” Don’t look for patterns so I can beat yourself up but because I want to be different.
If I ignore the mistakes of my past, I’m likely to repeat them. This was the problem with the Israelites when Moses led them out of Egypt. Their trip to the Promised Land should have taken only a few weeks, but instead it took 40 years because they refused to learn from their experiences and from the tests God put before them. Each failed test meant one more lap around the desert.
The Bible says in Job 32:7, “The longer you live, the wiser you become” (The Message).
That verse is a possibility, not a promise. There are people who are old and foolish. Wisdom does not automatically come with age.
But wisdom is possible for anyone. No matter the age, maturity comes as I let God teach me through the everyday experiences of life.
In summary, I need to examine myself to see if my faith is genuine. Test to see that Jesus Christ is in my life; if not, I have failed the test of genuine faith. So, an unexamined experience is worthless. It can be easy to make the same mistakes over and over again because of never stopping and extracting the lessons. Ask, what happened and what can I do differently. When I examine my life experiences, look for benefits. What have I really enjoyed. What was it about it that I really loved?” Why was it so fulfilling to me?” If I do so, I can get little clues about where I should be headed with my life. Also, look for patterns. Particularly, look for patterns in my failures. When I fail, I tend to do it the same way every time. So, look and ask, where have I failed in the past? What patterns do I keep repeating? Look for patterns so that I can be different. If I ignore the mistakes of my past, I’m likely to repeat them. Wisdom does not automatically come with age. No matter my age, maturity comes as I let God teach me through the everyday experiences of life.
In this passage Paul urges me to give myself a spiritual checkup. I should look for the growing awareness of Christ's presence and power in my life. Only then will I know if I am a true follower or an impostor. If I'm not actively seeking to grow closer to God, I am drawing further away from him.
Father, I need you. Please give me Your strength for today and remind me in little ways that I can believe in, have faith and can trust you in everything, including being the authority for my life, my self-worth and my future. You have my best interests in mind. Help me to embrace the way you’ve made me; my gifting and passions. I want to serve and fulfill the mission you have in mind for me. I ask you for wisdom and guidance in this for my day, my work, my leadership, my interactions with others, my preparation for a future job role and for leading a small group. I ask and pray these things through you Son Jesus’ name, Amen.
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