Dr Paul Allen

Self-examination has always been a vital component of what it means to grow in grace. In the earliest days of the church, for example, the Apostle Paul twice exhorted believers in the troubled church of Corinth to examine themselves. He issued the first challenge in relation to preparation for the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11:28) and the other with regard to the genuineness of faith itself (2 Cor. 13:5). John Calvin brings up self-examination in the opening words of the Institutes of the Christian Religion. True and sound wisdom begins not only with “the knowledge of God,” but also “of ourselves.” The Puritans wove the practice of self-examination into the core of their teaching and piety.  But the question is, How do we pursue it? There is no shortage of ways to pursue this discipline badly. Not least because, if done in isolation, it degenerates into the kind of morbid introspection that leads to spiritual self-harm, not benefits. How, then, are we to understand what it means to “exa...

Unhealthy introspection is a daily threat to our joy in Christ. Many of us tend to examine ourselves in a way that is excessive, inaccurate, and leads to discouragement. I’m failing at everything. I don’t like the way God made me. The Lord is not helping me. My service is worthless. My gifting is useless. My growth is hopeless. Self-examining spiritual depression speaks a thousand lies. The gospel speaks a better word. When Self-Examination Is Evil God calls us to examine ourselves (2 Corinthians 13:5; Lamentations 3:40), but healthy self-examination is a difficult and dangerous duty. The flesh seizes self-examination as an opportunity to turn our thoughts against us. Introspection is deceptive because it often looks like we’re doing the right thing: we’re not indifferent to our sin — we want to seek it out! But when that introspection makes us self-absorbed instead of Christ-absorbed, we undermine our faith. “Self-examining spiritual depression speaks a thousand lies. The...