Don Whitney has some of the best biblical and practical resources for growing in Christ. Among my favorites are his books: Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life and 10 Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health.

Perhaps the most seasonally practical of his articles are 10 questions he has written to ask yourself annually, either at the beginning of a new year or on your birthday. These are questions I will be considering over the next couple of weeks, and I would encourage you to examine yourself by doing the same.

1. What’s one thing you could do this year to increase your enjoyment of God?
2. What’s the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year?
3. What’s the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your family life this year?
4. In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress this year, and what will you do about it?
5. What is the single biggest time-waster in your life, and what will you do about it this year?
6. What is the most helpful new way you could strengthen your church?
7. For whose salvation will you pray most fervently this year?
8. What’s the most important way you will, by God’s grace, try to make this year different from last year?
9. What one thing could you do to improve your prayer life this year?
10. What single thing that you plan to do this year will matter most in ten years? In eternity?

Whether you use Whitney’s questions or another means of self-evaluation, the New Year is a great time to evaluate how you are doing spiritually, and could be a good means of evangelism. It is a natural time of the year for our culture to make plans to eat better, exercise regularly, or set new career goals, so consider sharing your spiritual goals with a neighbor or friend during a conversation about New Year’s Resolutions.