What Word Best Defines Your Character?

Have you noticed how words and language tend to change with each generation? Today the word "cool" could identify a person or just about anything. Cool could refer to someone being nice or acceptable.

Like all words used to communicate, “nice” may refer to a person’s character or values, but it is possible to be fooled. I’ve heard parents explain how they mistakenly believed a friend of their son or daughter was a nice person only to find out too late the truth.

Being honest in all situations should be the objective of every believer in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 4:15 implores us to speak the truth in love – love for Jesus Christ, love for God’s Word, and love for people. 

This is the ultimate incentive for speaking the truth. This attitude demonstrates character that reflects kindness, gentleness, and self-control. Be thankful that the love of Christ Jesus abides in you.                            

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Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord God forgave you. And over these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

~Colossians 3:12-14 New International Version

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Is Compassion a Match for Resentment?

Resentment has little or no capacity for compassion because its main objective is to punish and inflict suffering. Resentment and anger are difficult subjects to discuss openly because they imply weakness rather than the shrewd strength a person desires to demonstrate.

Anger and resentment lead to experiences that are difficult to justify. The danger of hoarding resentment is that it tends to harden the heart against the truth. Frustration turns into resentment as personal power erodes. Resentment blocks sympathy and compassion for whomever is the object of its forceful power.

A mother described how she was convinced her daughter made a mistake in her choice of a young man to marry. Her dislike grew into resentment that soured her relationship with her daughter. With God’s help she began to earnestly pray for her son-in-law, which eventually enabled her to replace the resentment with compassion, a sure cure for resentment. 

           

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To conclude: You must all have the same attitude and the same feelings; love one another, and be kind and humble with one another.

~1 Peter 3:8 Good News Bible

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New Year Plans: How Can You Exhibit Your Best Personality Traits?

For many people, celebrating Christmas will be extended for several days simply because family and friends continue to make contact to express their love and appreciation. Exchanging gifts is just one way to demonstrate appreciation and happiness. Making an effort to be physically present validates the strength of our love for others.

Coming together tests the positive and negative strength of attachments. Whether you are the invited guest or serving as host for others, there are always underlying expectations that must be acknowledged and adhered to if stress and potential conflict are to be kept to a minimum.

To make the best of a holiday visit, always exhibit your best personality traits the Lord God endowed you with at conception. Believe you can action yourself into a new way of feeling as you demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit, like love, joy and patience. God bestows these on you so you can be a blessing to others.   

      

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So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. …And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.

~Colossians 3:12,14 The Message

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The Ties That Bind God's People

 So much of what governs our lives are the social, religious, and legal rules we internalized from childhood. The ties that bind us together as a family and society should be the Ten Commandments God gave to Moses at Mount Sinai. It would take generations of struggle for the Israelites to understand and apply the commandments to their lives.

Although a newborn baby is a treasure from God and a source of joy, rarely is a couple prepared for all the adjustments this new baby will require. As a newborn baby interrupts the status quo of a family system, so the Ten Commandments would change the value system for binding God’s people together.

The commandments reflect God’s love for his people just as rules and boundaries represent a parent’s love. God’s love and mercy are revealed most completely in the gift of Christ Jesus, who became the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. Thank God for the gift of faith to believe and trust in his kindness and compassion.  

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[Moses told the people of Israel,] “Meditate upon all the laws I have given you today, and pass them on to your children. These laws are not mere words – they are your life!”

~Deuteronomy 32:46-47 The Living Bible

 

God loves you and has chosen you as his own special people. So be gentle, kind, humble, meek, and patient, and forgive anyone who does you wrong, just as Christ has forgiven you. Love is more important than anything else. It is what ties everything completely together.  

~Colossians  3:12-14 Contemporary English Version

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Build a Bridge to Tolerance

Intolerance is a human trait that affects everyone at some level and can be so complex as to make a minor noise appear like a major disturbance. Recently, I was having lunch with friends when the noise level made it impossible to communicate. We can develop intolerance for a person or for situations that don’t meet our needs.

The French philosopher Voltaire wrote in 1764, "Tolerance is the prerogative of humanity. We are all steeped in weaknesses so let us forgive one another's follies. This is the first law of nature." Forgiveness is the willingness to accept another person’s differences with compassion and love. Forgiveness builds a bridge to tolerance.

The apostle Paul cried out to God, "O wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver me from this body of sin and death?" He positioned himself before God this way while actively carrying out the Lord’s command to evangelize the world. Paul’s deliverance, restoration and forgiveness came through faith in Jesus Christ.  

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It’s wise to be patient and show what you are like by forgiving others.

~Proverbs 19:11 Contemporary English Version

You are the people of God; he loved you and chose you for his own. So then, you must clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Be tolerant with one another and forgive one another whenever any of you has a complaint against someone else. You must forgive one another just as the Lord has forgiven you. And to all these qualities add love, which binds all things together in perfect unity.

~Colossians 3:12-14 Good News Bible