It's good to regularly weigh ourselves according to God's Word. Reading a psalm of David and reflecting on each verse, ask, "Can I relate to this? Have I felt what David felt? Has my heart been broken by sin like his was when he wrote his penitential psalms?"

Consider David's confidence in God's mercy during his trials. Ask if you can take the cup of salvation and genuinely call upon the Lord's name. Then turn to Jesus' life and see how you measure up to His example. Are you learning His meekness, humility, and loving spirit? As you read the epistles, consider if you share Paul's experiences.

Have you cried out in desperation like him, "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" Have you felt his self-abasement, seeing yourself as the chief of sinners? Can you join him in saying, "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain"?

Reading God's Word as a test of our spiritual state may bring us to say, "Lord, I’m not there yet. Bring me here. Give me true repentance, real faith, greater zeal, burning love, and the grace of meekness. Transform me to be more like Jesus." May we not be found lacking in God's judgment. "Judge yourselves, that you be not judged."