Stewarding a Fruitful and Balanced Life: Questions for Self-Evaluation

by Jeff Hostetter & Evan Keller of Creating Jobs Inc

As we begin a new year, we are posting some ‘foundational’ material on our biblical foundations for business as mission and how we respond to God’s call in each of our individual lives and circumstances.

Want a tool for 2022 growth? In the tradition of assessing areas of growth in the new year, Jeff and Evan created a set of penetrating self-assessment questions in these various aspects of life: growing spiritually, investing in self, managing God’s gifts, stewarding vocations, and nurturing relationships. 

Self-Evaluation Questions for Intentional Growth in Following Jesus

“…so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God” – Colossians 1:10

Growing Spiritually

• Christ-centered: Am I keeping Jesus, his person, his grace, his example, and his Kingdom mission at the center of my life?
• Scripture: Am I regularly soaking in God’s Word in multiple ways (listening, meditating, memorizing, studying, and applying)?
• Character: Do my choices reveal an intention to become more and more like Jesus? Am I growing in Christlike traits, including the fruit of the Spirit?
• Integrity: Do my private thoughts, words and actions match the person I portray to others?
• Humility: How am I battling pride and putting others first in my thoughts and actions?
• Gratitude: How am I replacing complaining with gratitude throughout each day?
• Identity: Am I secure as a child of God or do I try to prove myself by what I say and do?
• Purpose: Am I joining God in his mission by using my gifts to glorify him and bless others?
• Spiritual Gifts: How am I using my spiritual gifts to build up the Body of Christ?
• Accountability: Who do I regularly lean on for prayer and support in my areas of weakness? What sins am I confessing and repenting of lately?
• Mentors: Who am I seeking mentoring from in key areas of needed growth?
• Maturity: How have I grown in the last six months?
• Idols: Am I examining my heart and inviting God to destroy anything that seeks to usurp his supremacy?
• Corporate Worship: Am I regularly encountering God and exploring His Word with other believers?
• Prayer: Am I praying regularly for my family, community, nation, the lost, the poor, the local and global church, and for God’s Kingdom to come “on earth as it is in heaven”?
• Death: Defying the cultural denial of death, am I “numbering my days”, preparing spiritually, relationally, and financially for my eventual passing?
• Kingdom: Am I nurturing a longing for God’s Kingdom, including regularly imagining how small and large things in various aspects of life will be different in the Shalom of the Kingdom?

Investing in Self 

• Nutrition: Am I steadily improving in nutritional excellence to enhance health and longevity?
• Exercise: What is my weekly plan for cardiovascular and strength training?
• Recreation: What are the top ways I refuel? Am I being regularly refreshed?
• Creation: Am I regularly enjoying the beauty of God’s creation and joining its praise of God?
• Sleep: Am I getting sufficient sleep to promote health, mental sharpness, and excellent work?
• Learning: Am I constantly learning, investing in my mind?

Managing God’s Gifts

• Time: Am I using time wisely, investing in myself and others, prioritizing the important things God has called me to do, making time to connect with God daily, and experiencing a weekly sabbath rest?
• Talent: What has God made me great at? How am I improving in this and using it for His glory?
• Treasure: Am I grateful for the financial resources God has put in my hands rather than feeling entitled or greedy?
• Trust in God: Do I look to God or money or work to provide for my needs and give me life (Luke 12:15; 1 Timothy 6:19)?
• Wealth Creation: As able, am I creating wealth and sharing it?
• Income Streams: How am I becoming less dependent on a single source of income?
• Generosity: Do I regularly engage in the joy of giving in various ways? Am I faithfully investing in my local church and in Christ’s kingdom?
• Frugality: Am I living debt-free, spending less than I make, and following a budget?
• Peace: Am I trusting God financially and turning any anxiety over to him?
• Property: Am I improving whatever assets God has entrusted to my care?
• Creation: How am I cultivating and stewarding God’s world?

Stewarding Vocations

• Worship through Work: Am I working with excellence as unto the Lord, glorifying Him and experiencing His pleasure through my work at home, school, and/or workplace?
• Community: In what ways am working with others to serve the common good?
• Fruitfulness: How am I staying focused on my work, prioritize my most impactful work, and experiencing good results?
• Creativity: What have I been creating lately that reflects my Creator?
• Teamwork: Am I co-creating with others for better results?
• Leadership: Am I creating opportunities for others to serve and grow?
• Servanthood: How am I helping co-workers to thrive and reach their dreams?

Nurturing Relationships

• God: Am I practicing the presence of God, basking in his Fatherly love, contemplating his attributes, confessing my sins, and seeking to worship and obey him in all I do?
• Spouse: If married, how am I reflecting the relationship of Christ and His church? How am I practicing mutual submission, sacrificial love, and servanthood?
• Immediate Family: Are we spending time all together and one on one? How am I encouraging each one in their next step towards Christ?
• Parents & Grandparents: How I am honoring them and staying in touch?
• Relatives: Am I looking for ways to bless my extended family?
• Church Family: How am I serving and doing my part in the Body of Christ?
• Unity: How am I embodying the blood-bought unity of the Body of Christ? Am I intentionally building strong relationships across the divides of race, gender, and class (Galatians 3:28)?
• Friends: Am I initiating meaningful conversations with them for mutual encouragement and growth? What is my level of transparency and vulnerability with them?
• Enemies: Am I actively seeking to gain understanding and grow in love for and empathy with those I disagree with?
• Opposite Sex: Do respect, purity, and appropriateness characterize my relationships with members of the opposite sex?
• Neighbors & Co-Workers: Am I friendly and available for interaction?
• Younger Believers: Who am I investing in to help them grow as Christ-followers and leaders?
• The Lost: Am I making room for serious conversations with those far from God and boldly sharing Jesus with them? Is my life an eloquent witness of the transforming power of Christ’s resurrection?
• The Least Reached: Am I investing time, talent or treasure to help make God’s Word and church available to the world’s unreached people groups?
• The Poor: How am I reflecting God’s heart for the vulnerable?
• Dignity: How am I affirming God’s image in those whose dignity has been undermined?
• Justice: How am I speaking up “for those who have no voice” (Proverbs 31:8-9)?

First published by Evan Keller on LinkedIn and reproduced here with kind permission.

Ways to Engage with Creating Jobs:

1. Receive 33 reflection questions on financial stewardship from The Heart of Wealth.
2. Help us raise up developing-world entrepreneurs for the glory of God.
3. Explore using our four levels of business training curricula with the adults or youth that you serve.
4. Use your public speaking and cross-cultural skills on our training team.

Respond by reaching out to Creating Jobs via their Contact Page

Evan Keller: Above all, Evan is a follower of Jesus. His daily goals are to: learn, create, relate, move, give and thank. Karen is his beloved wife of 29 years. Evan is a University of Central Florida graduate, an ordained minister, a member of: Rotary, NAACP, Volusia Remembers Coalition, and Christ Community Church in Daytona Beach, as well as a frequent visitor at Greater Union First Baptist Church (a 140-year-old African American congregation). Evan is passionate about nurturing trusting friendships and healing across the color line. As a founder of Beloved Communities Inc, he finds great joy in friendship with brothers and sisters of color in which he sees unique aspects of God’s image and who model character traits of perseverance, courage, and forbearance. Evan is addicted to playing basketball, and uses off-road biking, paddling, and mountain backpacking to deepen friendships and soak in the beauty of God’s Creation. He enjoys crossing cultures, art, the blues, and books on theology, nutrition, business, and African American history. Speaking of books, he is the lead author of StartBook, GrowBook, Opportunity Makers, The Heart of Wealth, and I, the Lord, Love Justice. At work, Evan co-leads talented teams at two ventures he founded to leverage business for good: the nonprofit Creating Jobs Inc and the for-profit Tree Work Now Inc. Through God’s grace and creative teamwork, these two ventures are exemplifying the true purpose of business to “serve by creating value.” Together, they advance Evan’s vocational purpose to “co-create thriving businesses and communities.”