A Searching and Fearless Moral Inventory

Using the Westminster Larger Catechism

The Larger Catechism is a rich catalog of Biblical Truth. It provides the foundation of a powerful "moral inventory." In reverse order, here are the questions the Ten Commandments begin to ask:

10   Am I filled with resentment from envying the rich and coveting what I don't have?
  9   Do I lie to cover up my character defects?
  8   Do I cheat others to gratify myself?
  7   Do I lust and have impure thoughts and actions?
  6   Am I willing to hurt other people to protect myself?
  5   Am I angry at my parents, and is our relationship broken?
  4   Am I able to rest, and trust God?
  3   Do I take the Lord's Name in vain?
  2   Do I cover up my character defects with religion and false spirituality?
  1   Is my relationship with God broken because I am trying to be my own god (Genesis 3:5)?

Click the number than interests you most, and begin a "fearless and searching moral inventory!"

1.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

A. Do I agree with God's Word that God is God and I am not?

B. Self-examination:  Is my relationship with God broken because I am trying to be my own god (Genesis 3:5)?

• Have I admitted to God, to myself, and to another human being the exact nature of my wrongs?
• Have I made a list of all persons I have harmed through my atheism, heresy, or secular humanism?
• Have I in fact made direct amends to such people wherever possible (except when to do so would injure them or others)?

C. Am I resolved to know God and acknowledge Him in all my ways?

2.
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image,
or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
{5} Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; {6} And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

A. Do I agree with God's Word as it governs worship?

B. Self-examination:  Do I cover up my character defects with religion and false spirituality?

• Have I admitted to God, to myself, and to another human being the exact nature of my wrongs?
• Have I made a list of all persons I have harmed through false religion?
• Have I in fact made direct amends to such people wherever possible (except when to do so would injure them or others)?

C. Am I resolved to worship God in spirit and in truth?

3.
Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain;
for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

A. Do I agree with God's Word on the Sanctity of God's Name?

B. Self-examination:  Do I take the Lord's Name in vain?

• Have I admitted to God, to myself, and to another human being the exact nature of my wrongs?
• Have I made a list of all persons I have harmed through broken promises and Godless words?
• Have I in fact made direct amends to such people wherever possible (except when to do so would injure them or others)?

C. Am I resolved to wear God's Name with due regard for its sanctity?

4.
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
{9} Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
{10} But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: {11} For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

A. Do I agree with God's Word on the requirements for work and rest?

B. Self-examination:  Have I been working as I should, and am I able to rest, and trust God when I should?

• Have I admitted to God, to myself, and to another human being the exact nature of my wrongs?
• Have I made a list of all persons I have harmed through idleness and inappropriate work?
• Have I in fact made direct amends to such people wherever possible?

C. Am I resolved to work more diligently when I should work, and rest more faithfully when I should rest?

5.
Honour thy father and thy mother:
that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

A. Do I agree with God's Word on the honor due to all my superiors?

B. Self-examination: Have I been angry at my parents, employers, and other superiors, and is our relationship broken?

• Have I admitted to God, to myself, and to another human being the exact nature of my wrongs?
• Have I made a list of all persons I have harmed through my lack of respect?
• Have I in fact made direct amends to such people wherever possible?

C. Am I resolved to honor those God has called me to honor?

6.
Thou shalt not kill.

A. Am I agreed with God's Word on the sanctify of life?

B. Self-examination:  Have I been willing to hurt other people to protect myself?

• Have I admitted to God, to myself, and to another human being the exact nature of my wrongs?
• Have I made a list of all persons I have harmed?
• Have I in fact made direct amends to such people wherever possible?

C. Am I resolved to protect the lives of others?

7.
Thou shalt not commit adultery.

A. Am I agreed with God that lust, fornication and adultery are wrong?

B. Self-examination:  Self-examination:  Do I lust and have impure thoughts and actions, and has this behavior adversely affected others?

• Have I admitted to God, to myself, and to another human being the exact nature of my wrongs?
• Have I made a list of all persons I have harmed through lust and sexual relations outside marriage?
• Have I in fact made direct amends to such people wherever possible (except when to do so would injure them or others)?

C. Am I resolved to avoid impure actions by conquering the impure thoughts which produce them?

8.
Thou shalt not steal.

A. Am I agreed with God's Word that stealing is wrong?

B. Self-examination:  Have I cheated others to gratify myself?

• Have I admitted to God, to myself, and to another human being the exact nature of my wrongs?
• Have I made a list of all persons I have harmed through theft and fraud?
• Have I in fact made direct amends to such people wherever possible?

C. Am I resolved never to steal in any way?

9.
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

A. Do I agree with God's Word, that falsehoods are wrong?

B. Self-examination:  Have I lied to cover up my character defects, and have these lies adversely affected others?

• Have I admitted to God, to myself, and to another human being the exact nature of my wrongs?
• Have I made a list of all persons I have harmed through falsehoods?
• Have I in fact made direct amends to such people wherever possible?

C. Am I resolved to become truthful in all my ways?

10.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

A. Do I agree with God's Word, that coveting is wrong?

B.  Self-examination: Am I filled with resentment from envying the rich and coveting what I don't have, and has this bitterness adversely affected others?

• Have I admitted to God, to myself, and to another human being the exact nature of my wrongs?
• Have I made a list of all persons I have harmed through my covetousness and resentment?
• Have I in fact made direct amends to such people wherever possible?

C. Am I resolved to conquer covetousness in my life?

How to Study the Ten Commandments

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