In what ways can we evaluate our spiritual priorities according to Haggai 1:7?

Setting the Verse in Context

“Haggai 1:7 — ‘Thus says the LORD of Hosts: Consider your ways.’ ”

God speaks to post-exilic Judah, whose people have delayed rebuilding His temple while pouring energy into their own homes (Haggai 1:2–4). The divine command, “Consider your ways,” is both urgent and diagnostic—inviting believers in every age to weigh their priorities against God’s.

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Practical Tests for Evaluating Spiritual Priorities

• Alignment Test

– Do my choices advance God’s agenda or merely my personal comfort?

– Compare time, finances, and energy invested in God’s kingdom (Matthew 6:33) versus pursuits that serve self.

• Stewardship Test

– God observed Judah earning wages “to put into a bag with holes” (Haggai 1:6).

– Ask whether recurring lack, frustration, or fruitlessness may signal misplaced priorities (Proverbs 3:9-10).

• Obedience Test

– Judah knew the temple should be rebuilt (Exodus 25:8; 1 Kings 8:29) yet stalled.

– Evaluate whether any clear command of Scripture is being postponed (James 1:22).

• Worship Test

– Where we direct our best resources reveals who or what we honor most (Mark 12:30).

– Consider whether devotional life, corporate worship, and giving receive first place or leftover moments.

• Satisfaction Test

– “You eat, but never have enough… you drink, but are never filled” (Haggai 1:6).

– Chronic dissatisfaction may expose that our hearts are centered on lesser things (Jeremiah 2:13).

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Steps Toward Re-Prioritizing

1. Stop and “consider”—deliberate, honest self-examination in light of Scripture.

2. Confess misaligned priorities (1 John 1:9).

3. Reorder life so that God’s work is first, just as Judah resumed building (Haggai 1:14-15).

4. Trust God’s promise of renewed blessing when His house is honored (Haggai 2:18-19).

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Encouragement to Act

The Lord’s simple directive, “Consider your ways,” still speaks. A willing heart, coupled with concrete adjustments, opens the way for His presence and favor to rest on every area of life (Psalm 37:4-5).