Thursday, March 31, 2011

Character Building - Your Building Materials


To quote a friend, “What we allow ourselves to dwell on, becomes the basis for our decisions. People don't accidentally sin; we make the decision to sin.” The things that you allow yourself to watch, listen to, read about, etc. will ultimately be what you think about. If we let the wrong things seep into our thoughts then it encourages bad choices. You can have a solid foundation to build upon, but your house – your character will fall if you don't use the correct materials. When you are making each decision, it is like you are adding another brick to your house of spiritual character. The difficulty is in choosing the right bricks. There is always a choice and each choice leads to another and so on, like a domino effect. In other words: If you make a good decision you have begun the chain-reaction of choosing another good decision the next time you have to make a choice, the same if you make a bad decision. Whichever you make, it has an influence on the next decision. Sometimes this is not the case, but you are more likely to make another bad decision after you've made a bad decision because you have set the sequence. This is why we must strive so hard to make the right choices so that it will influence our next decision. It is very important to use the right bricks on your house so that it will stand when the storms of life come. Whatever you decide today always effects tomorrow. Our character is what we truly are and what we do is what defines us. There are so many bad materials that we can pick up and use on our house that you may not be able to tell which are good and which are bad. These “bad bricks” have been disguised by the devil and even by our own eyes. If you are at this point in your Christian life, you need to seek the help of Christ. He alone can remove your blindness if you really want a strong spiritual character. Ephesians 4:17-19, This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
Matthew 20:30-34, And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David. And the multitude rebuked them, because they should hold their peace: but they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David. And Jesus stood still, and called them, and said, What will ye that I shall do unto you? They say unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened. So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him. This blindness, wherever it originates, must be corrected so that your house will have strong building materials. The question lies not in the problem, but in the cure. Do you want to continue in darkness and stay blind to the truth or do you want to receive your sight and become a light for Christ? Luke 11:33-36 No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light. The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light. Get rid of the bad bricks…begin again…start living right. The Lord wants you to live for him, let him help you build your house of spiritual character.

Stepping in the Light
Trying to walk in the steps of the Saviour,
Trying to follow our Saviour and King;
Shaping our lives by His blessed example,
Happy, how happy, the songs that we bring.
How beautiful to walk in the steps of the Saviour,
Stepping in the light; Stepping in the light;
How beautiful to walk in the steps of the Saviour,
Led in Paths of light!

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