A key aspect of spiritual growth is growing in awareness of our need of God’s grace. But diagnosing our heart can be difficult and generic questions just don’t cut it. So here are 30 questions to expose our sin of pride and identify areas of spiritual weakness that we can work on in our quiet times.
How to use these questions
For each of the questions* below, don’t just answer yes or no, rate yourself on a 1 to 5 scale where 1 indicates that this isn’t really an issue and 5 indicates a question that is a great issue. If you struggle, get your spouse or a good friend to answer the questions too, that way you’ll have some validation, and perhaps even some accountability.
You may not want to do all these in one sitting (although you may benefit from that). Instead, it may be good to take one question every day and ask yourself the question honestly and pray, bringing your heart before the Lord and His word as you do.
Questions to ask
- Do I complain against or pass judgment on God? It is easy to think that God should treat us a certain way, or just better than we think He does.
- Am I generally ungrateful for what I have? Do I think I deserve what I have?
- Do I get angry? If so, it suggests we believe we have unspoken rights that are not met.
- Do I look down on others? This may be outright arrogance, but it could also just be a simple intolerance of others.
- Do I have a high view of my importance or abilities? Seeing ourselves as indispensable is an indication we think too highly of ourselves.
- Do I focus on my lack of gifts and abilities? This suggests I want to be elevated.
- Am I a perfectionist? Perfectionism can be driven by a desire to feel good about ourselves, diminishing things that are more important in God’s eyes.
- Do I talk too much? This suggests a high view of my opinion.
- Do I talk about myself too much? This is an obvious reflection of self-centeredness.
- Do I seek independence or control? If I’m not willing to let certain things go, I impose my own authority over God’s and reject the need for accountability.
- Do I dwell on what others think? We ought to be focused on what God thinks more than what others think.
- Am I devastated or angered by criticism? Criticism tests whether we really believe we are perfect or not. If we recognize our flaws, we won’t be surprised when others do.
- Am I unteachable? Or do I think I know it all?
- Am I sarcastic, hurtful or degrading? We can make others feel bad so that we make ourselves feel better.
- Do I abstain from serving others? This could be because we don’t think of others.
- Do I lack compassion? If so, it could be because I cannot see past my own desires.
- Do I get defensive or blame others? Or do I see myself as above reproach and perfect?
- Am I reluctant to admit I’m wrong? A proud person has lots of excuses
- Do I fail to ask for forgiveness? An unwillingness to ask for forgiveness indicates an unrepentant heart before God and man.
- Am I prayerless? Perhaps I don’t think I and those around me need God?
- Do I resist authority? Am I disrespectful to authority? Do I refuse to submit joyfully to authority?
- Do I voice my preference or opinion when it hasn’t been asked for? My thoughts and preferences are so important I will tell them to people.
- Do I minimize my sin and shortcomings? I see my sin as no big deal, but other people’s sin is a huge issue.
- Do I maximise the sin of others? Is it generally someone else’s fault?
- Am I impatient or irritable with others? My schedule and plans are most important.
- Am I jealous of others? It’s hard to be glad for others when we are filled with self-importance.
- Do I use others? Are people a means to getting what I want?
- Am I deceitful, covering up my sins, faults and mistakes? Perhaps I’m trying to look better than I really am.
- Do I use tactics to get attention from others? Am I more concerned about showing who I am than who God is?
- Do I shun close relationships? If I see myself as self-sufficient, I’m not going to have need for relationships with others.
These 30 questions will help you find your weaknesses, and then you can work through these in your quiet times both by praying about them, but also by looking at how these are discussed and exemplified in the Bible. Once you’ve found a few you can put together a plan to attack that area of your life.
Download and Print!
I’ve created a printable version of these questions complete with instructions. Print them off and answer the questions yourself, then ask someone else to give you their answers too!
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* These questions are adapted from Stuart Scott’s From Pride to Humility.
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