HOW IS GOD DEVELOPING YOUR CHARACTER?

HOW IS GOD DEVELOPING YOUR CHARACTER?

 

 

Do you know how a pearl develops? It happens when a foreign substance slips into an oyster between its mantle and shell. This irritates the oyster, much like a splinter might bother you. The oyster reacts to cover up and protect itself from the irritant with layers of a natural substance, eventually forming a pearl.

 

 

God has a similar process for developing character. You sometimes experience irritants through physical and emotional pain, or through trials, temptations, or delays. When you react in a godly way to such mild or severe irritants, an extraordinary character is formed in you. You may feel as though God has been using heavenly sandpaper, instead, to shape your character!

 

 

With either method, he has probably been taking full advantage of life’s rigorous and varied situations to help you grow spiritually, because good character is critical to fulfilling his plan for your life.

 

 

GOD IS AN EXPERT AT SHAPING CHARACTER

 

 

Have you been dealing with particularly difficult people lately? If so, perhaps you are learning about the importance of patience. Is God asking you to tithe to teach you obedience, commitment, and generosity? Has he allowed you to remain in a situation in which you have said, “My back is against the wall,” so you would learn to trust him? Has an unfair decision taught you about wisdom and honesty? Has suffering invited humility along? Eva Marie Everson, who often speaks on behalf of the National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families, has been an eyewitness to God’s powerful transformation of her character, even when she dragged her heels along the way!

 

 

EVA MARIE EVERSON IS A WORK-IN-PROGRESS

 

 

Eva Marie is an award-winning author of fiction and nonfiction books, a nationally recognized speaker, and a former teacher of Old Testament at her church. She often uses drama in her messages to relate the truth. Research for her Shadows trilogy led her to begin educating parents about the dangers of pornography in their children’s lives.

 

 

Though Eva Marie has loved the Lord passionately her entire life, she says that she was surprised that her trip to Israel in 2002 (as a journalist) changed her spiritually. From that time on, having seen and touched the places where the story of Christ unfolded, she began seeking to know more about the heart of God. Eva Marie began to see the Bible as a powerful report of what truly happened to real people as ordinary as herself.

 

 

Through the reading and writing of books, God is teaching Eva Marie about his grace and mercy, two gifts she confesses she has withheld from others for years. Through relationships,  both the ones that mutually encourage and the ones that take unending effort, God is opening her heart to the pain and hardships of others. She says that she realizes more and more that “there but by the grace of God go I.” This compassion now allows her to touch people’s lives in ways she never before thought she could.

 

 

Eva Marie reflects on a truth she has learned about how God works: “Every day I feel a little more of me slipping away and a little more of God being replaced there. While I truly desire this, still I find myself holding on to self. In each area of my life, God is good enough to allow me to hold on, until I’m miserable enough to let go on my own.”

 

 

How Is God Developing Your Character? Philip Needed His Character Developed

 

 

Philip, one of the twelve apostles, was sometimes a skeptic who could not express a firm belief about the power of Jesus. So, Jesus tested him to help develop him as a man of faith and conviction. Read John 6:5–12. If you could tell God how you would like your next character trait developed, what process would you suggest he use?

 

 

SCRIPTURE TO PONDER

 

 

You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:5)

 

 

SUGGESTED PRAYER

 

 

Dear Lord God, like a living stone, I, _________, am being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priest, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to you through Jesus Christ. Today I pray that you will continue to shape me into the woman you want me to be. Help me, as one who desperately needs your work in my life. I give you permission to mold me into the woman you already see me as. But please, walk with me every step of the way!

 

 

So . . . What Insight, Prayer, or Action Step Has God Laid on Your Heart Today?