Living an Examined Life: Growing Spiritually Through God’s Standards

Jack Selcher
Jul 15, 2025
3 min read

Updated: 4 days ago

A man standing back-to-back with Jesus because Jesus is the standard to measure our lives

Summary

This article explains the importance of living an examined life through continual self-evaluation. Growth comes from honest assessment and willingness to change, but only when the right standards are used. Secular comparisons produce false confidence, while Christ is the true measure of spiritual maturity. Evaluating life by Jesus’ example leads to deeper obedience, greater love for others, and steady transformation into Christlikeness.

Alexander J. Miller observed that many people meander through life without considering the big picture. He suggested that Socrates would urge us to examine our lives and ourselves, to recognize our ignorance and seek virtue, wisdom, and good. Striving for excellence and being our best selves far surpasses complacency in wasting our lives.¹

I see two issues related to an examined life. The first is the importance of ongoing self-evaluation, and the second is choosing evaluation standards.

Why an Examined Life Matters

Concerning the first, Mr. Miller (and Socrates) are correct. An unexamined life doesn’t produce the best “you” possible. A life that most benefits God and other people buds and blossoms through continual self-evaluation and self-correction. The goal is to be better people this year than we were last year.

Practical Examples of Self-Correction

Let me apply the principle to my writing. Until 2023, I didn’t use Grammarly to make grammatical and spelling corrections. Now I consider its suggestions before publishing. My writing is clearer, more concise, and grammatically more correct since I started using it.

Another example. Until near the end of 2024, I wrote blogs and posted them on my website without organizing them properly or paying much attention to SEO. As a result, most of my blog posts lived a lonely existence with hardly anyone visiting them!

My website visits far exceeded my post views. I changed my ways. I categorized my posts and included keywords in the titles. Seven months later, my post views were three times higher than my site visits.

I haven’t arrived. I took a break from writing this blog to review how to create effective blog titles and concluded that many of my past titles were as unattractive as used motor oil stains on a bride’s white wedding dress! My best titles had hundreds of clicks, and my worst ones have had almost none. I must retitle many of them. So, what is my conclusion?

Living an Examined Life

To be the best we can be, we must continually evaluate our speech, attitudes, behavior, work, play, worship, values, and relationships. Nothing should be unalterably cast in concrete. The room for improvement is the biggest in the house! The best we can be today is no substitute for the best we can be next year.

The Danger of Using the Wrong Standards

The second issue is choosing our evaluation standards. We need discernment. Grammarly and my website host’s suggestions can help me be a better blog writer, but not a better person.

The Apostle Paul described how his opponents tried to discredit him: “Oh, don’t worry; we wouldn’t dare say that we are as wonderful as these other men who tell you how important they are! But they are only comparing themselves with each other, using themselves as the standard of measurement. How ignorant!” (2 Corinthians 10:12 NLT).

His detractors measured themselves using secular standards. Paul pronounced that approach as ignorant. We are no wiser if we measure ourselves with secular standards in spiritual realms. For example, if church attendance is the measuring stick of our Christian faith, we can pat ourselves on the back for doing what most of our neighbors don’t.

Measuring Life by Christ’s Example

If the standard for being a better person is loving God more this year than last, measured by increased obedience and loving our neighbor as ourselves, based on increased service to others, it is a different story.

In the spiritual realm, Jesus’ speech, attitudes, behavior, work, play, values, and relationships are the measuring sticks.