When was the Last Time You Took INVENTORY?

I LOVE DECEMBER! It has my birthday and my wife’s birthday—born 3 hours apart in the same year, btw. It has our wedding anniversary. And, of course, most important of all, it has CHRISTMAS. But there’s another high point in my December—a life-transforming year-end review of where I am in my walk with God and where he wants me to go. I introduced that process to you in the past couple of days and my hope is that you make it part of YOUR DECEMBER, too. 
  
ARE YOU READY TO GET STARTED?
  
STEP ONE today is TAKING INVENTORY of every part of your life THIS MONTH. The information you develop will be used to build your SPIRITUAL ACTION PLAN for 2022.
  
Conducting a “Faith Inventory” is prudent because it identifies infirmities before they cause problems and with time to correct them.  It is an important part of spiritual growth and understanding God’s purpose for our life. We should do this regularly through the year, but ESPECIALLY in December as we build a CHANGE RAMP to the calendar’s turn to January. 
  
This ongoing, reflective probe into our spiritual condition is one of the ways God shapes our path and points out things that need to be (MUST BE) changed. Here are just a few of the benefits:

• Hit the refresh button and increase self-awareness.
• Reduce emotion and slow down the pace of life.
• Rewind our “life tape” and identify blind spots.

What follows below are the TWO PARTS to my end-of-year Faith Inventory process.
  
PART ONE

• Am I ignoring someone who needs my attention, love, or time?
• Am I in touch with how my current mood/attitude looks and feels to OTHERS?
• Am I living the habits of a disciple: Word; Prayer; Fellowship; and Tithing?
• Am I aware of and grateful for all that God has done for me in the past year?

PART TWO

• Identify the challenges you faced in 2021.
• Determine how God helped you through those challenges.
• Estimate how your faith grew or did not grow this past year.
• Praise God for how he “showed up” during this past year.
• Use your praise for God this past year to encourage others.

I ask God to help me conduct a FAITH INVENTORY through a reflective probe into my relationship with him and my life with others. To illuminate opportunities. To show me where I need to change. To guide me toward his light and away from life’s darkness.
  
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
  
Pick a time in the next 10 days and conduct a FAITH INVENTORY. Then write down your thoughts and keep them handy for our trip through the other steps.
  
“Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?” 2 Corinthians 13:5