Taking stock of your life is like conducting a personal inventory of your actions; asking yourself what habits or thoughts do I need to adjust, what do I have to adopt or change.

In our walk with God, it is always good to know where we are; whether we are doing well or we need improvement.

II Cirinthians 3:20 provides a perfect way of making us examine ourselves, and that is “if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things”. But the verse 21 says “if our hearts condemn us not, then we have confidence toward God”.

Everybody must take stock of his life from time to time to adjust, since we are all not perfect. It will help you to live your life well. It is important to even know how people perceive us. In Luke 9:18 we see Jesus wanting to know how people perceive him; He asked the disciples “who do the people say thar I am?”. Per their responses some were misconceptions or misjudgment, and some were true. There will always be people around to misunderstand, misjudge or even judge rightly about our actions. They may say good things about you, but you can only change the bad habits when you accept they are bad and that they need to be improved. That is life for you. You cannot always get things right. Your heart will condemn you if you are on the wrong path and those from far and near will also have theirs to say. Our actions give rise to perceptions.

So, if you hear that someone has gossiped about you, do not be angry, rather, check yourself to see if what they are saying is true and change your style. It puts a check on your life. After all, we are not perfect. We may become perfect through experience, and these are some of the experiences you will go through as youth,

infact everybody goes through it.

If you can understand life this way, your bitterness, anger, malice, which Ephesians 4:31 speaks against will lessen; certain things will not matter to you anymore. It is all part of the stock taking. While your heart condemns you when you go wrong, people can also be used to put a check on your life. They may not always be right but it all helps in building your Christian life.

You just have to make sure that hour heart does not condemn you. After all who are we trying to please? Is it not God? And what does the Bible say? Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. Loving God means obeying his commandment.