What is Your Treasure Assessment

Self-Assessment

A self-assessment for naming the good desires that can become false treasures. Includes a TCK application lens for those shaped by movement, cultural adaptation, and layered belonging.

“Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:21

What this is: This self-assessment is designed to help you identify your deep idols: the mostly unconscious desires that start directing your choices, emotions, relationships, and view of God. Jesus says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21). This assessment asks: What has become the treasure your heart runs to for life?

Why idols matter: Scripture connects false treasure to false worship. In Jeremiah 2:13, God says his people committed two evils: they forsook him, “the fountain of living waters,” and made broken cisterns that could hold no water. Idols are broken cisterns. We give ourselves to them because we are thirsty for safety, love, peace, meaning, joy, or control. But they cannot finally satisfy us, and over time they damage us and the people around us.

Why these four: This self-assessment is not randomly choosing four categories. Christian wisdom has long recognized four basic ways the heart tries to replace God: Power, Approval, Comfort, and Control. These are deeper than surface idols. The surface idol is what you chase. The deep idol is why it feels necessary.

Surface idols and deep idols: There are many surface idols: money, sex, grades, success, romance, beauty, reputation, ministry, family, politics, entertainment, and more. Two people may both have an unhealthy fixation on wealth, but for different reasons. One may want wealth for Comfort, freedom from stress and pain. Another may want wealth for Control, certainty and security. This assessment is trying to uncover the deeper driver underneath the thing you chase.

What this quiz is looking for: These patterns are ways we try to redeem ourselves. Out of hurt and sin, we build strategies to cope, protect ourselves, and secure life apart from God. The gospel does not merely expose these strategies. It replaces them with Christ, who heals what our idols can only manage.

1Rarely true

2Occasionally true

3Mixed / unsure

4Often true

5Very true

Power

Success, significance, influence, winning, being impressive.

Score guide: 1 = Not true of me · 2 = Rarely true · 3 = Sometimes true / mixed · 4 = Often true · 5 = Very true of me

1. I feel most alive when I am winning, leading, achieving, or being recognized as exceptional.

1 2 3 4 5

2. I have a hard time being genuinely happy when someone close to me succeeds in an area where I wanted to stand out.

1 2 3 4 5

3. When I fail, I quickly look for someone or something that explains why it was not really my fault.

1 2 3 4 5

4. I subtly measure whether people are worth my time by their usefulness, competence, influence, or admiration of me.

1 2 3 4 5

5. I would rather be disliked than appear weak, unimpressive, ordinary, or irrelevant.

1 2 3 4 5

6. I often rehearse conversations so I can sound intelligent, persuasive, or unanswerable.

1 2 3 4 5

7. I feel irritated when people do not recognize the weight I carry, the quality of my work, or the sacrifice I have made.

1 2 3 4 5

8. I tend to turn relationships into arenas where I must prove I am right, needed, impressive, or superior.

1 2 3 4 5

9. I feel threatened by people who are more gifted, respected, attractive, spiritual, or successful than I am.

1 2 3 4 5

10. I can use humor, knowledge, confidence, intensity, or spiritual language to regain the upper hand.

1 2 3 4 5

11. I am more comfortable giving help than receiving help because receiving help makes me feel small.

1 2 3 4 5

12. When someone challenges me, I often experience it as disrespect rather than love.

1 2 3 4 5

13. I am tempted to exaggerate success, hide failure, or manage the story so I still look strong.

1 2 3 4 5

14. My anger often rises when I feel dismissed, overlooked, humiliated, or treated as insignificant.

1 2 3 4 5

15. I sometimes serve people, but I quietly want the service to prove my importance.

1 2 3 4 5

16. The thought of being ordinary, unnoticed, or second-best feels unusually painful.

1 2 3 4 5

Answer every question in this section before moving on.

Approval

Affirmation, acceptance, being liked, being wanted, being understood.

Score guide: 1 = Not true of me · 2 = Rarely true · 3 = Sometimes true / mixed · 4 = Often true · 5 = Very true of me

1. I often adjust my personality, opinions, or preferences depending on who is in the room.

1 2 3 4 5

2. I say yes when I should say no because I am afraid of disappointing someone.

1 2 3 4 5

3. Criticism, coldness, delayed replies, or social exclusion affect me more than I want to admit.

1 2 3 4 5

4. I over-explain, apologize, or soften the truth to avoid someone being upset with me.

1 2 3 4 5

5. I often feel responsible for other people’s moods, reactions, or spiritual/emotional wellbeing.

1 2 3 4 5

6. I would rather feel privately resentful than risk open conflict.

1 2 3 4 5

7. I sometimes serve people in order to feel needed, safe, appreciated, or morally valuable.

1 2 3 4 5

8. I find it hard to know what I actually want because I am so used to reading what others want.

1 2 3 4 5

9. When someone is displeased with me, it can feel like the whole relationship is in danger.

1 2 3 4 5

10. I overpromise and then feel trapped, tired, or resentful.

1 2 3 4 5

11. I am tempted to hide my true thoughts, sins, doubts, or preferences so people keep a good image of me.

1 2 3 4 5

12. I feel anxious when I cannot tell whether someone likes me, approves of me, or is upset with me.

1 2 3 4 5

13. I can appear warm and agreeable while secretly feeling lonely, unknown, or unseen.

1 2 3 4 5

14. I sometimes make myself smaller, funnier, needier, or more helpful to keep connection.

1 2 3 4 5

15. I avoid leadership decisions that would require someone to be unhappy with me.

1 2 3 4 5

16. The thought of rejection, exclusion, or being misunderstood feels unusually painful.

1 2 3 4 5

Answer every question in this section before moving on.

Comfort

Relief, ease, privacy, low pressure, avoiding pain or demand.

Score guide: 1 = Not true of me · 2 = Rarely true · 3 = Sometimes true / mixed · 4 = Often true · 5 = Very true of me

1. I reach for entertainment, food, sleep, scrolling, fantasy, porn, substances, shopping, or games when I feel stressed or sad.

1 2 3 4 5

2. I avoid difficult tasks until pressure or consequences force me to act.

1 2 3 4 5

3. I experience ordinary responsibility as intrusive, unfair, or exhausting.

1 2 3 4 5

4. I minimize problems because naming them would require me to deal with them.

1 2 3 4 5

5. I often choose immediate relief even when I know it will cost me later.

1 2 3 4 5

6. When life gets emotionally heavy, I disconnect from my feelings rather than bringing them to God or people.

1 2 3 4 5

7. I get irritated when people ask for help, accountability, conversation, or presence when I wanted privacy.

1 2 3 4 5

8. I confuse rest with escape. I take breaks that leave me less restored and more numb.

1 2 3 4 5

9. I often feel bored, restless, dissatisfied, or flat unless something stimulating is available.

1 2 3 4 5

10. I tell myself, “I deserve this,” when I am about to indulge something unwise.

1 2 3 4 5

11. I resist disciplines that would expose my desires: fasting, silence, confession, budgeting, screen limits, or early sleep.

1 2 3 4 5

12. People close to me have sometimes felt neglected because I was checked out, distracted, or unavailable.

1 2 3 4 5

13. I avoid conflict because I do not want the emotional discomfort of repair.

1 2 3 4 5

14. I secretly hope someone else will handle the hard parts of life so I can be left alone.

1 2 3 4 5

15. I can be easygoing in public while being passive, avoidant, or unreliable in private.

1 2 3 4 5

16. The thought of a life full of demands, discomfort, and no escape feels unusually painful.

1 2 3 4 5

Answer every question in this section before moving on.

Control

Certainty, order, standards, predictability, managing outcomes.

Score guide: 1 = Not true of me · 2 = Rarely true · 3 = Sometimes true / mixed · 4 = Often true · 5 = Very true of me

1. I feel anxious when plans are vague, standards are unclear, or outcomes are uncertain.

1 2 3 4 5

2. I often take responsibility for things that technically belong to other people.

1 2 3 4 5

3. I have difficulty resting because there is always something unfinished, inefficient, or wrong.

1 2 3 4 5

4. I judge myself harshly for mistakes, weakness, inconsistency, or low productivity.

1 2 3 4 5

5. I can become critical of people who are spontaneous, inefficient, emotional, careless, or irresponsible.

1 2 3 4 5

6. I feel safer when I know the plan, the rules, the timeline, the risks, and the backup plan.

1 2 3 4 5

7. I struggle to enjoy success because I immediately notice what could have been better.

1 2 3 4 5

8. I often believe that if I do not handle something, it will fall apart.

1 2 3 4 5

9. I experience interruptions as threats rather than ordinary parts of life.

1 2 3 4 5

10. I use discipline, competence, doctrine, productivity, or moral performance to feel secure before God and others.

1 2 3 4 5

11. I feel resentful when irresponsible people receive grace, mercy, celebration, or second chances.

1 2 3 4 5

12. I can make people feel evaluated, corrected, managed, or not good enough.

1 2 3 4 5

13. I find it hard to ask for help before I am overwhelmed.

1 2 3 4 5

14. I am more comfortable with tasks than with vulnerable relationships.

1 2 3 4 5

15. I sometimes confuse faithfulness with over-functioning.

1 2 3 4 5

16. The thought of uncertainty, disorder, dependence, or failure feels unusually painful.

1 2 3 4 5

Answer every question in this section before moving on.

Please answer every question first.

Your strongest idol

Scores

A score is not a label. Treat this as a mirror, not a verdict.

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