Sincere and Beautiful People
God is working deeply inside each of us. And what it looks like on the outside may seem rather strange in a world that values big personalities and outward appearances. He is working out a genuine and sincere beauty IN us to think His way and be made new in his way because He is preparing us for who we really are in eternity. It's in this life now that we are learning how to be with one another as we will be in heaven.
I was talking with my daughter on our long walk together yesterday on how easy it is to think we have it all together when we are alone. It is so easy to think that, when there is no one to rub elbows with. There isn't any peer pressure to see how far we will go. There is no influences of others. But it's with others that we can evaluate our inner depth of character. How do we do when someone speaks of another and we enter conversation and discolor others good name. Or how easily we give in to the temptation to gossip about this or that. Does our time with each other have to be about excessive fleshly desire or can we have a good time being the Godly citizens He intended us to be? Can we chat with each other and then go away feeling like we've enjoyed some flow of Life and it causes us to grow even deeper in our love for Christ? Can we evaluate our character and work on it after each encounter we have with others? It's OK to be with others and evaluate our own personal character afterwards! That's how we grow. Working out a life with Christ as we are with each other is character building. Building isn't easy and takes a lot of time, effort and resources. We can take time to reevaluate. We can go to God and ask for His help to build the weak areas we noticed. And we definitely have been given such beautiful resources from God to make us into who we are - His precious and chosen ones. So don't kick yourself and sit in the depths of despair if you've fallen yet again and made an ass of yourself. Take your weaknesses to God and just pour them out and ask for His help. Ask for help time and time again. Pretty soon you will find His beauty is radiating from you as naturally as breathing. You needed God and He was right there to work in you to will and do His good pleasure. We do this because our character is deeply important. And we do not want to lead our precious brothers and sisters in Christ astray. Jesus said it would be better that we take a millstone (those are HUGE and heavy), tie it around our own neck and cast it into the sea than to lead even one little one astray.
Having big personalities isn't what life is about. Being liked is not our goal. Having the praises of men is a pitfall that leads down a dark road. But having the praise that comes from God above.....ah, my friend, this is the thing to have. A few in history have been mentioned by God of bringing Him pleasure and there is not much better than such an accolade in all of existence! Godly character is a most beautiful and useful thing! Get it! Find out and follow what is pleasing to God and your inner life will be beautiful and useful to Him.
I was talking with my daughter on our long walk together yesterday on how easy it is to think we have it all together when we are alone. It is so easy to think that, when there is no one to rub elbows with. There isn't any peer pressure to see how far we will go. There is no influences of others. But it's with others that we can evaluate our inner depth of character. How do we do when someone speaks of another and we enter conversation and discolor others good name. Or how easily we give in to the temptation to gossip about this or that. Does our time with each other have to be about excessive fleshly desire or can we have a good time being the Godly citizens He intended us to be? Can we chat with each other and then go away feeling like we've enjoyed some flow of Life and it causes us to grow even deeper in our love for Christ? Can we evaluate our character and work on it after each encounter we have with others? It's OK to be with others and evaluate our own personal character afterwards! That's how we grow. Working out a life with Christ as we are with each other is character building. Building isn't easy and takes a lot of time, effort and resources. We can take time to reevaluate. We can go to God and ask for His help to build the weak areas we noticed. And we definitely have been given such beautiful resources from God to make us into who we are - His precious and chosen ones. So don't kick yourself and sit in the depths of despair if you've fallen yet again and made an ass of yourself. Take your weaknesses to God and just pour them out and ask for His help. Ask for help time and time again. Pretty soon you will find His beauty is radiating from you as naturally as breathing. You needed God and He was right there to work in you to will and do His good pleasure. We do this because our character is deeply important. And we do not want to lead our precious brothers and sisters in Christ astray. Jesus said it would be better that we take a millstone (those are HUGE and heavy), tie it around our own neck and cast it into the sea than to lead even one little one astray.
Having big personalities isn't what life is about. Being liked is not our goal. Having the praises of men is a pitfall that leads down a dark road. But having the praise that comes from God above.....ah, my friend, this is the thing to have. A few in history have been mentioned by God of bringing Him pleasure and there is not much better than such an accolade in all of existence! Godly character is a most beautiful and useful thing! Get it! Find out and follow what is pleasing to God and your inner life will be beautiful and useful to Him.
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