We have opportunity to judge ourselves from the time we come to Christ throughout the rest of our lives. There are also specific times which are more conducive to awareness of truth because of the working of the Holy Spirit. God has provided times and occasions for the specific purpose of helping us in self-judgment, and He expects us to take advantage of these.
The Lord’s Supper provides a regular discipline of self-examination.
When we find we have a need at the time of the Lord’s Supper, God wants us to confess it to Him and ask for His cleansing and then partake. We are not to refuse to take part in the Lord’s Supper because of sin. It only takes a moment of repentance and forgiveness to make us ready. He said to examine ourselves and then “so let him eat.”. The blood of the New Covenant was specifically for the remission of sin.
God uses tests and trials of faith to help us discover our reactions under pressure.
We do not know what we will do under certain circumstances until we experience them. God knows, but He wants us to know ourselves. His purpose is never to bring us into condemnation but to bring us to ask for the help we need. The first step in prayer for deliverance is always the admission of need. This opens us up to God’s help.
The ministry of the Holy Spirit within us causes us to know our own hearts.
Introspection on our own is a bad habit because it is always destructive. But the Holy Spirit will bring to light certain areas of need at the time God is ready to deal with them. If we will allow the song of the Lord and praise to dwell in us at all times, the Holy Spirit will take the initiative in calling an area of need to our attention. He does this in a constructive way which will build our faith for receiving His help.
The Lord uses undershepherds to help us recognize our faults and errors.
Undershepherds are responsible before the Lord to watch for our souls. That is exactly what “oversight” means. Many times the Lord will direct them to speak to us and to discipline us when they see with God our areas of weakness and need. If we will accept their words and corrections as from the Lord, we will be greatly blessed and many times will avoid having to learn the hard and longer way by experiencing failure.
God may use times of affliction to call attention to areas of sin in our lives.
When we call for the elders of the church in times of illness, we are to confess our faults to them as preparation for the prayer of faith and anointing with oil. Very often healing is only received as we acknowledge our sins, especially if the illness resulted from chastening to correct specific habits. (See James 5:14-16.)