To self examine and know oneself is not easy business but it is necessary. It keeps us from being a Pharisee. What A. W. Tozer said is so true. “A Pharisee is hard on others and easy on himself, but a spiritual man is easy on others and hard on himself.” It is not our duty to examine the hearts and motives of others when we can hardly fathom our own hearts and motives. Not others, but we should never be afraid to examine ourselves. But when doubts do arise, the answer is not to try harder to prove yourself a believer but to fly to the cross and to Christ. Then, having looked to Christ alone we can look to His Spirit to enable us to deal with those areas of our lives that cause doubt.

“The habit of introspection may be abused, to divert the eyes of the soul too much from Christ.” (R. L. Dabney).