Asking the right questions

As a journalist, I've learned that during an interview, the way to a person's true self is to ask the right questions.

When you're sick, you go to the doctor. The doctor, through a series of questions, makes a quick diagnosis and then finds a way to cure your illness.

Sometimes, I try to find a cure before I've fully diagnosed the spiritual illness. Instead, we need to fully understand what our symptoms are before we can pursue a cure.

Some questions I've found helpful:

Where is your heart in the dark? When you leave the church, when the lights turn low, when the praise music stops, where does your heart turn?

What do you put your hope in? Money? Relationships? School?

Is there something in your life that is distracting or blocking your view of the Lord and His purpose?

Are you representing the Lord in life, or somebody else? Yourself, your family, your company, your school? Who or what are you an ambassador of in this world?

Are you seeing fruit of the spirit's work in your life? (Galatians 5:22-23)

Is your mind clouded by guilt over sin more often than it is by joy in the Lord's grace?

Are you listening to and succumbing to the voice of temptation in your head, or do you turn to the word, prayer and wise counsel for your decision making?

And the final question – taken from a graduation speech given to Stanford by Apple CEO Steve Jobs in 2005 – Look at yourself in the mirror each morning and ask: If today were the last day of your life, would you do what you are about to do today?

Pray about your answers. Consult the Word (not the world) daily. Trust that the Lord will not only point out the iniquities in your thinking, but burn them away so that you may live your life with the unbridled joy that comes only from glorifying the Lord of the universe.