Review
As we continue our year-end Examen, step 3 is to review the year to examine how you did in your walk with God.
Examine Your Faith
Paul, in 2 Corinthians 13:5, said this to the early church: "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves." Perhaps that is the point of this step in our Examen—examining ourselves to see how we're doing in our faith.
In fact, examining our hearts is something we should be asking God to do. It's something He does anyway, as we read in Jeremiah 17:10, where He said,
"I, the Lord, search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve." So God is always searching our hearts to see that we're doing OK.
David, famously in Psalm 139:23-24, said,
"Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting."
Spiritual Self-Review
As we review our year, let's spend some time thinking about how we've grown—or gone backwards—in our faith.
A good way to do this is to look at the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5 and see how we're doing. Are you more loving than you were before? Are you more joyful? Are you more peaceful? Are you more patient, more kind? Do you have more goodness, gentleness, self-control than you did before?
We don’t review ourselves so that we can beat ourselves up on our shortcomings. Not at all. We review ourselves so that we can see where we need to improve, where we need to pray, and where we need to ask God for His help.
Armed with the knowledge of where you need to grow, you can press forward with focus and with God's help, knowing that He wants to help you in these areas.
So I pray that you will have a fruitful review of your year in prayer today and that God will reveal where He wants you to grow and where He is going to help you grow in the new year.
