Just as you can tell when your physical health is failing, there are symptoms or danger signals which warn us that something is not as it ought to be! Take a moment to look at these ten warning signs which show possible backsliding:

1. Lack of time for Bible study, worship assemblies, or service.
2. Devoting of more time to reading Facebook than the Bible.
3. Preference for the company of the irreligious to that of Christians.
4. Looking for reasons to justify something you have already done.
5. Evaluating the sermon more by its length than by its content.
6. Becoming more prone to illness on Sunday than other days of the week.
7. Stretching one week’s excuse to cover two or more weeks of absence from worship services.
8. Thinking of the brethren in terms of “they” rather than “we.”
9. Reaction to sorrow, doubts, or personal problems by avoiding Christian association which might help to resolve them.
10. Resentment toward being visited by members of the church.

These danger signals are early symptoms of the various aspects and developmental phases of worldliness, a malignity far more deadly than cancer. Early diagnosis and intensive, prolonged treatment are of utmost importance. This stubborn ailment has been known to respond favorably to massive ingestion of Bible study, combined with regular and sustained attendance at worship assemblies and committed involvement in teaching, visitation, and personal service, supplemented by an increased exercise of prayer and sacrifice.

Kyle Campbell