There are many aspects to character. This daily devotional reviews a variety of nuggets regarding how, through our character, we reflect God to others.
To read devotions in the Redo for Godliness series, click the appropriate button below.
This ended up being a potpourri of nuggets. However, they have a loose connection with character.
Let’s take a look how these nuggets on reflecting God to others reveal our character.
Making the Connections
- Eternal life comes from loving God that shows itself in loving others. We can’t skip a step and think we’ll get eternal life (Learning about Love).
- Death, for a disciple, shouldn’t be the scary proposition it is for non-believers. We know where we are going, and we know all it is promised to be (Final Thoughts on Setting Our Affections on Things Above).
- Satan will do everything in his power to keep our thoughts off God. We have to choose to think about God (Focusing Our Thoughts Off of the World).
- We are only responsible for the plan God has for us. I am not responsible for Adam’s plan, but I was called to witness to him. If I didn’t witness to him, that was on me. If he didn’t ABCD, that was on him (The Law of the Future).
- Judgment can cause stumbling blocks to be put into place (Guarding against Offense).
- When Satan tempts us to judge, he is not tempting us to judge on God’s standards. He is wanting us to judge on some convoluted version. Oh, Satan doesn’t want us to really know what God wants us to do. That would mean we were studying His Word and meditating on it. That is how we seek Him. When we seek Him, we find Him (Guarding against Offense).
- We are to influence our fellow disciples whether we intend to or not (Guarding against Offense).
- Growing the peace in our lives isn’t easy, either. This will take work. We will have to keep our temper in check. We can’t go out looking for skirmishes (How to Promote Peace).
- Because God’s disciples are united in peace, His work can be completed in a timely manner (How to Promote Peace).
- The peace is for us, too, but that is what we extend to others (The State of the Kingdom of God).
- It is our duty as a disciple to help our fellow disciples in their walks and not cause them to stumble (Living in Faith and Love).
- Some things are unlawful only to some people (Living in Faith and Love).
- Let me process through some of the rules Hodge set down for things indifferent that are right or wrong according to the circumstances in which we find ourselves. Would harm come to others? Is it in any way accompanied with a sin? Would any important truth be denied in doing or not doing it? Remember, not forbidden. Maybe even more important, these are not a condition of salvation (Living in Faith and Love).
- Every Tom. Every Sally. Every Elaine. No one is exempt from pleasing the neighbor. Neighbor meant everyone else. No one is exempt here, either. No one is given a pass (Who Do We Please?).
- The strong are commanded to build up the weak here — teach the one who is weaker in the faith (Who Do We Please?).
- God calls a team to do His work (A Team Approach to Ministry).
- Paul told us two chores we are to do as disciples. We are to be filled with the knowledge ourselves. We are to help others grow and knowledge (We Are All Ministers).
- We need wisdom and humility to discharge these functions. Our primary duty is the salvation of the lost so that God will be glorified (We Are All Ministers).
- We aren’t saved just for ourselves. We are saved so that we can further God’s kingdom. The end result is to bring Him glory and honor. We are to be a minister to the unbelieving (We Are All Ministers).
- Minister can range from someone discharging the religious or civil duties as assigned to the person who accomplishes acts of kindness (We Are All Ministers).
- Paul knew it wasn’t about him being a great evangelist or missionary. He knew it wasn’t about him meeting the needs of others. It was about telling others that God had sent His Son to die on a cross so that His blood might be shed to pay the price to redeem us from our sins (The Focus of the Ministry).
- Sometimes, unity takes work (Paul’s Travel Plans).
- God wants us to be unified in His name (Paul’s Travel Plans).
- God will abundantly bless those unified in His Son’s name (Paul’s Travel Plans).
- God wants us to be unified. He does not want us to look for things that divide us (Watch for A Ministry in Conflict).
- Sometimes things happen in the moment. It could go from anywhere on a continuum of breath-and-overlook-the-offense to blow-the-offense-out-of-proportion to anywhere in between. God wants us to live together in harmony. That means He wants us to work through it to reach a peaceful conclusion (Watch for A Ministry in Conflict).
- Satan wants the church to fail. He would love most of all for it to implode from the inside. If he could get us to rip ourselves apart, he would really feel like he has won a great battle (Watch for A Ministry in Conflict).
How Do We Apply This?
- God doesn’t say only submit to good leaders. He doesn’t qualify that we have to believe what the leader’s agenda is in order to submit. He doesn’t limit it by ethnicity, race, or religious affiliation. In other words, God doesn’t give His people — or any of His creation — a pass from submitting to leaders (Submitting to Authority).
- Trying to persecute our enemies on our own will lead to harm. We’ve got to follow God’s Will, not our own (Transformed to Harmony).
- Living for others brings up two words: responsibility and accountability (The Law of Getting Along).
- It becomes a fine line that we walk — our personal liberty (Rom. 14: 1-12) and our love for others (Rom. 14: 13-23). It is all about letting people believe what they believe when it does not violate God’s laws and commandments. It is living together within the church, loving God and each other (Guarding against Offense).
- We need to watch our actions to ensure that we are not bringing spiritual ruin to other disciples (Guarding against Offense).
- The strong need to help the weak by being a good example to them. Don’t just bite on them. Show them better. Help them to be better (Who Do We Please?).
- Paul told us we have to make a conscious decision to give up what pleases us and please others (Who Do We Please?).
- Lead with love. Don’t judge. Here, we are adding tolerate another disciple’s weaknesses, encourage them, and seek their strengths (Who Do We Please?).
- Our greeting must encompass Jesus’ love for all in order to build community (Glorifying God Together).
- We are to share our knowledge with others (We Are All Ministers).
- We should pray for the ministry of others (Paul’s Travel Plans).
- Disciples are to watch to ensure divisions are not created within the body of Christ (Watch for A Ministry in Conflict).
Father God. We praise You that, even though we were disobedient to You, You want us to have Your character. We can show that to others, so that they can see You in us. Help us win them to Your kingdom. Amen.
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