What are some questions I can ask myself everyday to be better accountable to God?
I've thought of a few but I need 10
Do I have any sin to confess?
How have I shown love to God today?
How have I shown love to others today?
I'm looking for harsh deep questions that lay bare my motivations and make me humbly want to love God more.
Scripture references that relate or questions poised in scripture would be incredible.
Really, just are you following and always keeping in mind the words of Jesus.
As for "have I shown love to God today" or "love to others today", I do not like those questions because we should be walking in love all the time... and deeds of love are by no means so plain or obvious.
From my perspective, really, what God is asking for is not focusing on the outside of the cup, but the inside. So, on love: do you love in your heart. Then, do not worry about deeds for they come naturally from the heart.
So, along those lines - and I do ask myself questions - are more like:
"Am I praying for my enemies and those who abuse me"
"Do I have any debt I am holding against someone I need to let go of?"
"Do I really care about sinners being saved, about people being cured from diseases, about widows, orphans, people getting killed in some far flung country"... and so on...
"Am I considering such and such issue from God's perspective, rather then man's perspective or some group's perspective"
"Am I interpreting something Scriptural correctly, am I sure"
"Do I turn the other cheek, how do I turn the other cheek, where is it good to do that, what does that mean to do"
And so on and so on...
That said, Paul pointed out he does not "even judge myself". This implies he felt he was walking and talking in the Spirit. And the Spirit is not good to second guess. If one "does not judge" and "does not condemn" one is "not condemned" and "not judged".
So, questions along those lines are critical: "Am I judging this person correctly and what they are saying and doing"
(Because there are matters we are asked to judge.)
Many times I see people get caught up in making judgments against others they do not understand and these are wrong judgments. You see this everywhere. For instance, in politics.
Another thing I constantly strive for is "what is God's will in this situation", and really, that is what it all boils down to, seeking God's will on all matters through the above... and not our own.
But, trying to grasp your own deeds or follow it from what comes out: I do not recommend that.
Look at the Prophets whom were sent to serve as role models. Consider their deeds as if in vacuum... how did they show love of man or God... it was by no means always obvious at all.
(They were considering the bigger picture, so what was right and best for the short term was not right and best for the long term, as Peter pointed out, they all knew they were preaching for us in the future... otherwise, why destroy Israel or fling her off into captivity, for instance? Or why would Abraham almost sacrifice his child? Or Moses have his tribe kill their own people? And so on.)
And God does have a bigger picture for us today: sometimes it is right and best to give a homeless person ten bucks... sometimes it is not.
Real good is spiritual, not physical -- very hard to classify and quantify, so best to go by our heart.
This especially means going over - in our hearts - the words of Jesus to try and understand them. They should always be there in memory.
