I subscribe to Pete Scazzero’s email newsletter after enjoying a 2 day conference over my sabbatical on Emotionally Healthy Spirituality.

The other day he emailed these questions…

Following are the top ten symptoms of emotionally unhealthy spirituality. Which of these symptoms are most relevant to your life?

1. Using God to run from God 
(Example: My prayers are usually about God doing my will, not me surrendering to His.)
2. Ignoring the emotions of anger, sadness, and fear 
(Example: I am rarely honest with myself and/or others about the feelings, hurts, and pains beneath the surface of my life.)
3. Dying to the wrong things 
(Example: I tend to deny healthy, God-given desires and pleasures of life such as friendships, joy, music, beauty, laughter, and nature. At the same time, I find it difficult to die to my self-protectiveness, defensiveness, lack of vulnerability, and judgmentalism.)
4. Denying the past’s impact on the present 
(Example: I rarely consider how my family of origin and significant people/events from my past have shaped my present.)
5. Dividing life into “secular” and “sacred” compartments 
(Example: I easily compartmentalize God to “Christian activities” while usually forgetting about Him when I am working, shopping, studying, or recreating.)
6. Doing for God instead of being with God 
(Example: I tend to evaluate my spirituality based on how much I am doing for God.)
7. Spiritualizing away conflict 
(Example: I usually miss out on true peace by smoothing over disagreements, burying tensions, and avoiding conflict, rather than disrupting false peace as Jesus did.)
8. Covering over brokenness, weakness, and failure 
(Example: I have a hard time speaking freely about my weaknesses, failures, and mistakes.)
9. Living without limits 
(Example: Those close to me would say that I often “try to do it all” or “bite off more than I can chew.”)
10. Judging the spiritual journeys of others (Example: I often find myself occupied and bothered by the faults of those around me.)

I benefited greatly from the teaching, especially around Sabbath keeping and embracing grief. Visit: http://www.emotionallyhealthy.org to learn more. Look for the tools, articles, blog, podcasts, courses, etc.