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The Lutheran Church of the Covenant
An Examination of Conscience Based on the
Faith Practices
Worship
- Is my heart set on God, so that I really love God above all things?
- Am
I faithful to God’s commands as a child loves their parent?
- Do I put my concerns about the things of this world ahead of God?
- Do I keep Sundays, Festivals (Ascension), Days of Special devotion
(Ash Wednesday) and other services of the Church by taking a full
part with attention
and devotion
in the liturgy?
- Do I come seeking to meet God through the Word and holy
Sacrament?
- Do I join in the prayer and praise of God without holding
back?
- Do I let my own likes and dislikes interfere in my participation
during corporate
worship?
- Have I worshiped false gods by superstition, elitism, occult practices,
arrogance
or in other ways?
- Am I an active participant in worship, offering my gifts
and talents for the
good of all?
Prayer
- Do I pray morning and evening?
- Do I pray the Lord’ s Prayer
thoughtfully?
- When I pray do I really raise my mind and heart to
God?
- Do I offer God my difficulties, my joys, and my sorrows?
- Do I
turn to God in time of temptation?
- Do I pray for others’ needs,
both immediate friends and those around the world?
- Do I pray for
Covenant and my brothers’ and sisters’ needs
here?
- Do I always give God thanks?
- Have I prayed for the unity of the
Church and the spread of the Gospel?
- Have I prayed for peace and
justice and those who wield political power?
Study
- Is my faith in Christ Jesus firm?
- Am I wholehearted in receiving
the Apostolic faith?
- Have I been careful to grow in my understanding
of the Faith, to hear God’s
Word in daily Bible reading, to listen to instruction in the Faith?
- Do I read other books about Christian faith?
- Do I take part in
Sunday School and other Bible study opportunities?
- Do I take time
to pray the Scriptures, meditating on God’s
Word to me?
Serving
- Have I a genuine love for my neighbor?
- Am I involved in some direct
ministry to others? (Tutoring, Meals on Wheels, Interfaith Hospitality
Network, Sunday School teaching,
Hunger
Center, etc.)
- Have I done my work as a service to others?
- Have I been just and
honest?
- Have I injured others by deceit, calumny, detraction, rash
judgment or violation
of a secret?
- Am I conscientious in voting?
- Do I pay taxes with a clean heart?
- Have I been faithful to my promises
and contracts?
Inviting
- Have I always been ready to share my hope
in Christ with others?
- Do I look for opportunities to invite
others?
- Am I strong and fearless in professing my faith in God and
the Church?
- Have I been willing to be known as a Christian in private
and public life?
- Have I tried to overcome estrangement from
others and been ready to ask for and
offer forgiveness?
- Have I prayed regularly for those who struggle
with faith?
- Have I tried to help them find true answers to their
questions about God?
Giving
- Do I share my possessions with the less
fortunate?
- Do I do my best to help victims of oppression, misfortune
and poverty?
- Do I look down on my neighbor, especially the
poor, the sick, the elderly, strangers
or people of other races or ethnic groups?
- Do I “seek
first the Kingdom of heaven” by giving
my offerings off the top and not from what is left over?
- Have
I made a commitment to give and prayed for God’s guidance
in the amount?
- Have I succumbed to debt for non-essentials?
- Have I been unwilling to put off
purchasing things I want which I cannot afford?
- Have I made
money a false god by putting my trust and hope for security in it?
- In
Marriage, have I been faithful in being open and sharing myself
completely with my spouse?
- Have I been chaste?
- Have I fulfilled family responsibilities:
caring for the needs of parents, children
and others to the best of my wisdom and ability?
- Do I contribute
to the waste of the world’s resources through
selfishness?
Encouraging
- Have I wanted others’ good?
- Have I allowed pride, self-centeredness,
and my own worries keep me from concern
for others?)
- Have I listened to others’ problems,
encouraged and prayed with and for them?
- Have I been quick
to forgive others and not hold their actions against them?
- Have
I tried to share insights about others in a way that builds them
up and
gives them hope?
- Have I thanked others for the good
they do which has benefitted me?
The above are intended as a starting point for your
own reflection. One might also consider the Ten
Commandments, the Sermon
on the Mount, and
other Bible
passages.
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