The Spiritual Health Check: Why Christians Need Regular Assessments

No serious athlete improves without regularly evaluating their performance. They track progress, identify weaknesses, adjust training regimens, and often work with coaches who see what they cannot. This principle—that growth requires honest assessment—applies even more crucially to our spiritual lives. 

Yet while we readily accept evaluation in physical fitness, careers, and academics, many Christians resist applying the same rigor to their spiritual development. We drift through years of faith without a clear awareness of our progress or stagnation, hoping vaguely that we're growing, but rarely confirming it through deliberate examination. 

Scripture presents a different approach. "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves," Paul urged the Corinthians (2 Cor 13:5). This isn't a suggestion for the spiritually ambitious but a fundamental practice for all believers who seek authentic transformation. 

The Spiritual Fitness Test 

Consider how physical fitness works: A comprehensive assessment might measure cardiovascular endurance, strength, flexibility, and body composition. Each component matters, and weakness in one area affects overall health. Similarly, spiritual health encompasses multiple dimensions that require regular evaluation. 

When David prayed, "Search me, God, and know my heart... See if there is any offensive way in me" (Ps 139:23-24), he recognized that we have blind spots. Just as a fitness trainer spots improper form that could lead to injury, God's perspective reveals spiritual vulnerabilities we might miss on our own. 

This type of spiritual health check helps to disrupt self-deception. We excel at justifying attitudes and behaviors that contradict Christ's character while remaining painfully aware of others' shortcomings. Jesus highlighted this tendency when he spoke of those who see specks in others' eyes while missing logs in their own (Mt 7:3-5). Regular spiritual assessment challenges our comfortable self-narratives. 

More importantly, evaluation identifies patterns and triggers. A physical trainer might notice you consistently drop your shoulder before an injury flares. Similarly, spiritual assessment helps identify not just individual sins but recurring cycles and their precursors. Perhaps certain relationships consistently lead to compromised values, or specific stressors trigger patterns of destructive thinking. 

The Training Partner Principle 

No elite athlete trains exclusively alone. Even in individual sports, performers rely on coaches, training partners, and support teams who provide feedback impossible to obtain independently. The spiritual journey likewise thrives with purposeful companionship. 

"Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed," James instructs (Jas 5:16). This practice—sharing our spiritual condition with a trusted companion—creates accountability that catalyzes growth. 

Think of it as similar to a workout partner who both encourages and challenges you. When motivation lags, they get you to the gym. When form slips, they correct it. When you're capable of more, they push you beyond perceived limits. A spiritual companion serves similar functions, helping us move beyond comfortable spiritual routines into genuine growth. 

Sharing our spiritual inventory with someone trustworthy brings our struggles fully into the light. Just as certain physical weaknesses worsen when ignored, spiritual issues gain power through isolation. As John writes, "If we walk in the light... we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus purifies us from all sin" (1 Jn 1:7). 

This relationship provides an external perspective that we cannot achieve alone. A trusted spiritual friend can identify blind spots, challenge rationalizations, and offer wisdom beyond our limited viewpoint. As Solomon noted, "As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another" (Prov 27:17). 

Creating Your Spiritual Training Plan 

How might we implement this practice of spiritual assessment and accountability? Here are practical steps to create your own spiritual training plan: 

1. Schedule regular evaluation sessions - Just as athletes plan assessment periods into their training cycles, set aside dedicated time for spiritual review. Many find quarterly checkpoints effective, while others prefer monthly or align with liturgical seasons like Advent or Lent. 

2. Develop meaningful metrics - Go beyond vague feelings to examine specific aspects of character, conduct, and commitments. Consider how closely your life aligns with Christ's teachings, the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23), and biblical ethics. 

3. Record observations honestly - Document insights without rationalization or minimization. Like tracking fitness progress, the value comes from accuracy, not flattering numbers. 

4. Share with a trusted companion - Choose someone spiritually mature, trustworthy with confidences, and capable of both grace and truth. This isn't casual conversation but a sacred space requiring appropriate boundaries. 

5. Create specific next steps - Assessment without adjustment is merely religious introspection. Each review should produce concrete actions for growth, just as physical assessments lead to refined training programs. 

   
   

Beyond Spiritual Plateaus 

Athletes know the frustration of plateaus—periods where progress stalls despite continued effort. Spiritual growth experiences similar stagnant seasons that often stem from failing to evaluate and adjust our practices. 

Regular spiritual assessment breaks these plateaus. It prevents us from mistaking religious activity for spiritual growth and challenges us when we've settled for comfortable mediocrity rather than Christ-like character. 

The goal isn't increased self-awareness alone but genuine transformation. Paul describes a renewal process where we "take off your old self... and put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness" (Eph 4:22-24). 

By regularly assessing our spiritual condition and sharing that inventory with trusted companions, we create space for the Spirit's transforming work. We move beyond vague spiritual aspirations to concrete, measurable growth—developing spiritual fitness that endures through life's most demanding seasons.