10 Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health

Are you spiritually healthy, or just spiritually busy? If you’re like many Christians who desire a deeper walk with Christ, you’re probably pursuing activities geared to help you grow. But you may wonder if you’re really making progress. You’re spiritually active, but are you spiritually healthy? Would Jesus look at your endeavors (prayer, church attendance, evangelism, Bible study, etc.) and pronounce you spiritually fit? Or does He have an altogether different set of criteria by which He measures your spiritual well-being? Best-selling author Don Whitney (Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life) is no stranger to activities and disciplines designed to move believers toward a deeper relationship with Jesus. But the ten probing questions Whitney poses in this book will help you look beyond your spiritual activity to assess the true state of your spiritual health. His questions cut to the heart of the matter: Is your character becoming more like Christ’s? Are you spiritually healthy, or just spiritually busy? Don Whitney will help you ask yourself the right questions for evaluating your growth in the areas that really matter.

Since 2005 Don Whitney has been Associate Professor of Biblical Spirituality at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville Kentucky where he also serves as Senior Associate Dean. Before that he held a similar position (the first such position in the six Southern Baptist seminaries) at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City Missouri. He is the founder and president of the Center for Biblical Spirituality.

Don grew up in Osceola Arkansas where he came to believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. He was active in sports throughout high school and college and worked in the radio station his dad managed.

After graduating from Arkansas State University Don planned to finish law school and pursue a career in sportscasting. While at the University of Arkansas School of Law he sensed God's call to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He then enrolled at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth Texas graduating with a Master of Divinity degree in 1979. In 1987 Don completed a Doctor of Ministry degree at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield Illinois. Currently he is completing his Doctor of Theology with Specialization in Christian Spirituality at the University of South Africa.

Prior to his ministry as a seminary professor Don was pastor of Glenfield Baptist Church in Glen Ellyn Illinois (a suburb of Chicago) for almost fifteen years. Altogether he has served local churches in pastoral ministry for twenty-four years.

He is the author of Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (NavPress 1991) which has a companion discussion guide. He has also written How Can I Be Sure I'm A Christian (NavPress 1994) Spiritual Disciplines Within the Church (Moody Press 1996) Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health (NavPress 2001) Simplify Your Spiritual Life (NavPress 2003) and Family Worship (Center for Biblical Spirituality 2006). His hobby is restoring and using old fountain pens.

Don's wife Caffy ministers from their home in Louisville as a women's Bible study teacher an artist muralist and a freelance illustrator. The Whitneys are parents of a daughter Laurelen Christiana.

Don's website address is www.BiblicalSpirituality.org.