Christian introspection originates and terminates at the gospel. It begins with the good news of Christ’s completed work that has been applied to us. It is founded upon a firm knowledge that Christ has already borne God’s wrath for our sin and that God has already imputed to us his perfect righteousness. This means we are not searching ourselves to see if we been good enough or become righteous enough to merit the favor of God, for through Christ we already have the favor of God! Rather, we are searching ourselves to see if we are honoring God and displaying evidence of his power and presence in our lives—whether we are  “walking in a manner worthy of the calling to which we have been called,” (Ephesians 4:1).

What is an inch? What is a kilogram? That’s easy: An inch is the distance between two notches on a ruler and a kilogram is the weight that makes the needle point to “1” on a kitchen scale. We take such weights and measures for granted, forgetting that they have no meaning and no definition in themselves. For an inch to be an inch it must conform to an accepted measure; for a kilogram to be a kilogram it must match an exacting standard. Governments have entire departments tasked with ensuring weights and measures are accurate, that they conform perfectly to accepted definitions.

Every human being lives according to some kind of a standard. There is some outside criterion each of us uses to measure our morality, to weigh our ethics, to judge our successes or failures. We may compare ourselves to parents or peers or great heroes of days gone by; we may compare ourselves to the laws of the land or the laws of the universe; we may compare ourselves to religious leaders or sacred texts. But none of us lives entirely disconnected from outside standards, from some measure of comparison. We are no more independent than an inch or a kilogram.

As Christians, we are sure of our standard of comparison. We compare ourselves to Jesus Christ, for “whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked” (1 John 2:6). He is our standard. He is our measure. He is our criterion. If we wish to live moral lives, ethical lives, successful lives, significant lives, we must live as Jesus lived. He is our inch, he is our kilogram.

But how can we know if and how we are “walking in the same way in which he walked”? Through the Christian duty of introspection.

The Purpose of Introspection

The Bible mandates and models introspection. In Lamentations we read, “Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord” (3:40) while in 2 Corinthians we encounter this command: “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” (13:5). In the Psalms we often read of David looking inward and crying out to God for help in this task (Psalm 139:23). Asaph tells of the benefit that came when he diligently meditated in his heart and searched his spirit (Psalm 77:6).

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