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Ecclesiastes 7:8
Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the
patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. |
Today we will be
looking into the question of "Who Am I" ...
Your character is your personality. Your character has many
characteristics, which are different qualities, good or bad, that make
up the person that you are, and the combination of those characteristics is
what makes each person unique, or different from every other person on
earth.
How do you 'build'
your character? Simple ... By the choices that you make. Let me give you an example. Let's take the characteristic called kindness. Each time you choose to
do something kind, it strengthens that characteristic and you become a
kinder person. This makes you even more likely to be kind the next
time the choice of whether to be kind or not is presented to you.
Remember, what we learned in yesterday's step ...
Jesus said if we use the 'talents' that He gave us ...
We would be given even more.
In this step, we are
going to look at some different characteristics of one who is called
to REPRESENT.
Jesus gave us a new
Commandment in the New Testament which is to ... LOVE.
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John 13:34-35
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as
I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall
all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to
another. |
So, being a loving
person is definitely a characteristic you'll want to develop. When you
have love, it's a lot easier to build all the other good
characteristics because God IS love, and with God in you, nothing is
impossible.
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1 John 4:16
And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God
is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God
in him. |
The next
characteristic we're going to look at is honesty.
Honesty is sharing TRUTH. Jesus said the TRUTH shall set you free.
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John 8:32
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. |
How does the TRUTH
set you free? Well, if you tell the TRUTH, you never have to be
imprisoned by a lie, having to keep track of things you said, or
always being on guard to make sure nobody ever finds out about it. You
never have to worry about anything. Many times you have to tell more
than one lie to cover up the first one, and lies have a way of
multiplying until everything is a big mess. Another thing to remember
is that the devil is the father of liars.
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John 8:44
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your
father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and
abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When
he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and
the father of it. |
Being honest is
also one of the top ten (Commandments).
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Exodus 20:16
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. |
What is false
witness? Telling lies about another.
Your ATTITUDE is a
very important part of your character. Your attitude is the way you
feel about something. Being optimistic is a good attitude to have.
Why? Because it chases away fear and fear comes from the devil.
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Proverbs 29:25
The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in
the LORD shall be safe. |
Do you look for the
good in people and circumstances, or do you usually expect the worst?
Remember that what you believe, you receive, so if you expect the
best, what is likely to happen? Search for the good qualities in
others. Try and bring out their best qualities by always faithfully
displaying your own godly qualities. Point out to people their good
points. Compliment them, in front of others. They will be proud that
you noticed their goodness, and it will encourage them to exhibit
those characteristics in themselves more often, and remember, the more
they use the good gifts that the Lord gave them, the more good they
will receive. By doing this, you're planting good seeds, and God will
make them grow!
Not only does your
attitude affect YOU, but it affects OTHERS too. A good attitude is
contagious, but so is a bad attitude. If you want to be a Christ-like
example to others, a good attitude REPRESENTS Jesus. It's easy to have
a good attitude about things that we're in harmony with, but let's
talk about your attitude about things that you may disagree about or
things that you may not like.
Let's say, for
instance, that your elderly mother asks you to drive her to her weekly
sewing circle on Saturday afternoon, because your dad has the flu. You
don't want to, because you wanted to do something else. You fuss about
it, so that makes your mom and dad both angry. You scowl and everybody
is curt with one another. You get to hear about how many times your
dad drove you to soccer practice when you were a child ... alllllll
the way to her friend's house. Yeeesh! Your mother doesn't have a very
enjoyable afternoon, because of your attitude, when she normally loves
going to the sewing circle. You dad gets no rest because he's worried
about your driving while you're upset with your mom. When you drop
your mom off at home, you can feel that your parents are both still
mad, and you apologize, but you can feel, that there are hard
feelings, so your Saturday evening is ruined too because it never
leaves the back of your mind. I guess things will be a little touchy
when you take the family there for Sunday dinner as well. You see how
a poor attitude can affect others as well as yourself?
I have something to
tell you, both as your friend, and as a fellow Christian, but I must
warn you, this is one of those wounds of a friend, that we talked
about at the very beginning of this program. Life isn't all about fun
and what we want to do, when we want to do it, even though we'd like
it to be that way at times.
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Luke 12:48
For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much
required. |
God has given you the
gift of being called, so you are expected be more responsible than
others. That responsibility includes things like sacrifice when you
may not feel like giving, kindness when others may not be kind to you,
selflessness when others are being selfish, strength when you feel
week, forgiveness when you've been insulted or hurt or sinned against,
love when you are hated, patience when you feel like you can't wait
for something, kindness when others are unkind to you, enthusiasm when
others don't care, eagerness when others are lazy, and love when
people are being hateful. As a shepherd, you are extraordinary, and
you are expected to act like it. You may have heard the phrase 'mind
over matter' before. That's the ability to control your thoughts about
something even when it's something that would cause the average person
to be emotional about it. All the examples that you just read are mind
over matter. With a Christ-like mind, no matter what the matter is,
you can control your attitude about it and act on it with a
Christ-like response.
Each and every day of
your life, your character will be tested by the world. You're also
being tested by God, to see if you're worthy of the everlasting life
that He promises to you as a Christian. Every day is a new day, and
new and different challenges will come about to see if you will handle
them with godly character.
Another part of your
character is your trustworthiness. Do you keep promises that you make?
Do you take care of your responsibilities? Are you punctual? Can
people count on you when they're in a jam?
Many people think
that being funny and making people laugh is an important part of a
person's character. The problem is that most people don't know how to
do this without being cruel or nasty or offensive to others. Always
ask yourself if what you're about to say or do for the sake of humor
is something that Jesus would do or say. In fact, that's a good rule
to keep about everything you do.
We're not supposed to
judge other people, but we are supposed to be a good judge of
character. That means that you should be able to tell by the way a
person talks and acts, if they are someone you want to associate with.
You become what you surround yourself with, so if you befriend people
who don't have the same values that you have or want, you'll find
yourself becoming like them the more you associate with them. There is
an exception to this though ... If there is a lost sheep that needs
your help, never turn them away. Sometimes it takes a while for
people who have been lost to change their ways and if you don't allow
them to surround themselves with good, how will they learn to become
more like you?
I'd like you to take
a moment to think about the heroes of the world. Jesus, Robin Hood,
Joan of Arc, Martin Luther King, Jr., Samson, King David. They all had
some common characteristics, but an important one that they all shared
was determination. No matter what obstacles were in front of them,
they didn't give up their cause, and being a person who is called, you
must be determined in your heart to live in God's image, for His
glory, and to be an example to lead His precious sheep to do the same.