18 Bible Verses About Self-examination
To know God, one must first strive to know oneself. The inner landscape, often obscured by the world's noise and our own illusions, requires the penetrating light of divine truth. Scripture offers this essential lamp for self-examination, illuminating the depths of the soul. By holding God's Word against the mirror of our lives, we discern the true state of our hearts, not to fall into despair, but to recognize areas ripe for grace and growth. This sacred inspection, guided by holy writ, is the pathway to authentic spiritual health and closer communion with the One who knows us completely and loves us infinitely.
Featured Verse
Because he covereth his face with his fatness, and maketh collops of fat on his flanks.
Wisdom Through Scripture: Examine Your Heart
If my step hath turned out of the way, and mine heart walked after mine eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands;
Lo, let that night be solitary, let no joyful voice come therein.
Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the uprightness of thy ways?
That thou enquirest after mine iniquity, and searchest after my sin?
Is there iniquity in my tongue? cannot my taste discern perverse things?
O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? how long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing? Selah.
For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?
Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering.
What then shall I do when God riseth up? and when he visiteth, what shall I answer him?
Shall vain words have an end? or what emboldeneth thee that thou answerest?
If I sin, then thou markest me, and thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity.
Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
But ye should say, Why persecute we him, seeing the root of the matter is found in me?
Why doth thine heart carry thee away? and what do thy eyes wink at,
Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; why then are ye thus altogether vain?
Because he covereth his face with his fatness, and maketh collops of fat on his flanks.
Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight.
Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not; yea, the stars are not pure in his sight.
These passages illuminate the profound imperative of turning the gaze inward, not in narcissistic fixation, but to discern the true state of the soul before the Eternal. Self-examination, guided by the divine Word, becomes the essential discipline for separating the dross of illusion and vanity from the gold of genuine virtue and integrity. It is the rigorous, humble work of confronting our authentic selves, measuring our intentions and actions against the plumb line of God's truth. Such an interior vigilance, though demanding, is the indispensable pathway to purifying the heart, aligning our will with the Divine, and embarking upon the path toward that spiritual perfection life demands. Let this sacred counsel prompt a persistent, honest inquiry into the depths, fostering a soul transparent and worthy before its Creator.