The Good of Self-Examination

“The knowledge of ourselves is true humility. And without this we cannot be freed from vanity, a desire of praise being inseparably connected with every degree of pride.” -John Wesley

The call to holiness of heart and life includes an honest assessment of ourselves. And it is for this reason, that Lent is a time of introspection. It’s preparation for the great feast of Easter, certainly, but that preparation centers on a knowledge of ourselves, our state before God, and the sins that we cling to. Many people don’t like Lent for this very reason. It’s not always pleasant to look at ourselves so closely! We may not want to admit to the vices that hold us back from the life that God has for us.

Wesley wrote the words quoted above in a letter to Jane Catherine March in the Spring of 1776. Miss March was a young woman of means and Wesley was concerned that if she faced reproach for the sake of Christ that she should be able to bear it. Her status, he notes, had kept her from it up to that point. But that might not always be the case. He encouraged her to self-examination and prayer as preparation.

For self-examination, or “knowledge of ourselves,” produces more than just an awareness of our faults; it’s an essential part of the process of healing.

A few weeks ago, after church on the first Sunday in Lent, I left church thinking “that was a downer.” The focus was sin, from the beginning of the service until the very end. No one could miss the theme of the day; it wasn’t what one might call “uplifting.” Yet it was necessary.

Self-examination and grace go together. Grace­—the very power of the Holy Spirit ­—causes us to examine our lives. Even if we’ve been walking with Christ for many years, self-examination remains vital. The holy life is a life of self-examination. It’s not a legalistic one, of course, but one where we continually open ourselves up to the transforming work of God.

1 Corinthians 13 is often read at weddings, and it’s a lovely passage. We know it: “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.”

What Paul was writing about here, though, is Christ. Replace the word “love” with “Christ” in this passage and we see it very clearly. He is love incarnate. Self-examination asks, “am I like him?”

Whether you observe Lent or not, this is a good practice. Because, as Wesley wrote to Miss March, self-examination of this kind leads to promised wholeness. For in seeing ourselves as we really are, we are drawn to Christ all the more. His offered love becomes even sweeter still. And he stands with open arms to embrace us and make us whole.

_Ryan N. Danker is director of the _ John Wesley Institute , Washington, DC. This is reposted from a weekly JWI newsletter that can be subscribed to here .

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