I am reading E. Stanley Jones’ 1951 daily devotional, “How to Be a Transformed Person.” While the language is dated, it has some wonderful treasures that never go out of style. Today’s reading talked about asking yourself the following questions to measure the reality of your spiritual life and its health:
Do you pray always?
Do you rejoice in God every moment?
Do you in everything give thanks–in loss, in pain, in sickness, in weariness, disappointment? (Notice: he is saying IN, not FOR.)
Do you desire nothing?
Do you fear nothing?
Do you feel the love of God continually in your heart?
Have you a witness in whatever you speak or do, that it is pleasing to God?
That is quite a list! I know I failed the test early on in the list. But he then goes on to offer solutions, such as making prayer a daily discipline not based on feelings, listening for God to speak after you have read your Bible, trusting God to provide all things, being open to the movement of the Holy Spirit as you go about your day.

Tests like this are deemed old-fashioned today because there is such an emphasis on “feelings” being the basis of an authentic spiritual experience. But as Christians, we aren’t looking for a “spiritual experience.” We are in a relationship with a loving God and like any relationship, that is built on truths we know, not feelings we have at the moment.

If you are like me and failed the test, take heart. Ultimately, the Christian faith is a relationship, not an impassable test.