Whenever we speak or write something, we must ask ourselves a series of questions; without asking those questions, what we say or write will not come from a deeper place of personal introspection.

First and foremost is the question, “How does this apply to me?” Without asking that question, what we speak or write something filled with pride, thinking we are better than the people or issues we are addressing.

The second question is, “How does this apply to those individuals or earthly systems that will be affected by our words?” Once our pride has been addressed and we have taken into consideration those who will hear or read our words, a third question must be asked: “Do my words contain an element of redemption?” We can speak hard words of truth if they are spoken with love and the hope of redemption.

The final question is “How will this honor God and advance His Kingdom?” This is where some will think what you shared did not honor God or advance His Kingdom. That is what happens when people hear or read something that disagrees with their assumptions. These disagreements will never go away. They will always be present. When this happens, we must choose to remain humble because the Lord will use a challenge to help us discern the integrity of our hearts.

Only when we allow God to enter and adjust our motives by asking us the right questions will we understand the power of the Lord’s words, “My power is made perfect in weakness” (II Corinthians 12:9).

In all things, we must guard ourselves from a response of self-protection. Self-protection will turn our response into a defensive retort to our critics and devolve our conversation into a fleshly back-and-forth exercise of personal justification.

Asking these questions will reveal the level of our spiritual maturity. We all will fail this test from time to time, no matter how long we have followed the Lord. We should never stop asking these questions. They will be part of God’s safeguard for our lives.

Asking these questions will keep us safe. It will also reveal that we are still in a process with God, where He is revealing what has not yet been perfected in our lives. Realizing that someone is still in a process with God and willing to be corrected is a voice we can trust.