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Have you ever thought you understood a concept only to be humbled when someone asked you to explain it? This has happened to me on several occasions, and it usually comes down to the same problem…I think I know something, or at least I think I do until I have to put it into words. James 1:26-27 talks about a similar concept. Someone can easily think they are religious (to use James's terminology), but if they do not bridle their tongue, they are deceived, and their religion is worthless. This passage has given me pause. My natural response to these verses is to be thankful it doesn't describe me, but that misses the point. James didn't write these two verses for me to give myself an automatic pass. He wrote them that I might evaluate my life and grow in holiness. Maybe you have experienced something similar. The easy response is to think we are living out true Christianity. However, James warns that it is possible that our life and our words, under close examination, reveal a faith that is less put together than we actually thought.

What does it look like to evaluate our lives? How can we know if our religion is actually considered worthless? I have thought of three different ways I can evaluate my life, and I invite you to consider them alongside me.

First, I need to evaluate my life by my own thoughtful meditation. Though I certainly can deceive myself, I also have some idea of what's going on inside my heart. Often, I know myself better than others know me. I know whether I have been simply looking the part on the outside when my inward heart has been far from God. Each one of us would benefit from a humble reflection of our own lives.

Secondly, I should ask those who know me best. From their perspective, do they see fruit from true Christianity? Do they see ways that I prioritize holy living? These questions do require an open, humble heart. Sometimes the  answer to these questions is hard to hear. Yet truly these answers are what I need to hear. In humility, I need to place a greater priority on bringing glory to God rather than my own comfort.

Third, I should spend time with the Lord in focused prayer. As much as my own evaluation and the evaluation of others are profitable, only God truly knows my heart. If I have deceived myself, and even others, only God knows  where I truly stand. I need him to reveal what is actually going on inside my heart.

If you only focus on one of these three applications, join me in prayer. Pray that God would expose any unconfessed sin in our lives. Pray that he would make known any secret sin that we may have suppressed in sinful deception. As we evaluate our lives, may God give us humble hearts in order to faithfully pursue holy living.