Sometimes looking back on your life is good and sometimes it is bad. We don’t need to look back on our lives and relive failures and feel ashamed, for the Lord has forgiven our sin and does not hold it against us. We need to remember to accept His forgiveness and release any guilt to God that may be lingering. A good thing to do when you review your life is to ask the Holy Spirit to guide you to understand how you are not walking in the character qualities that should be a vital part of your Christian life. He will enlighten you to comprehend what areas you need to mature in. Some Christian characteristics are: to be consistently agreeable, sympathetic, loving, compassionate and humble. We should not retaliate but save vengeance for the Lord, for only He knows how and when to revenge perfectly. Cut out any sharp-tongued sarcasm; instead bless, it’s your assignment to bless. These characteristics, plus others, should be the basics of our Christian character, and only the inner working of the Holy Spirit through us can develop them.
"The expression of Christian character is not good doing, but God-likeness. If the Spirit of God has transformed you within, you will exhibit Divine characteristics in your life, not good human characteristics. God's life in us expresses itself as God's life, not as human life trying to be godly." - Oswald Chambers
Prayer Tip #10 – Christian Character Qualities are Vital
For “He who would love life
And see good days,
Let him refrain his tongue from evil,
And his lips from speaking deceit.
Let him turn away from evil and do good;
Let him seek peace and pursue it.
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
And His ears are open to their prayers;
But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
1 Peter 3:10-12
The Lord is gracious and loving to His children. When we are willing, He will stir us up by reminding us how we are to express Christlike characteristics in our thoughts and actions. Jesus was gracious, humble, loving, and compassionate. We may feel that we do not consistently display Christlike marks of maturity so we can ask God to help us in these areas. We must strongly desire to become pleasing to God and yearn to be like Jesus, His Son, who was the perfect balance of godly character. Jesus modeled each of these marks of maturity to perfection, although He was fully man, living on the earth. God will give us hope beyond our immaturity and complete the good work He began in us.
Prayer Points –
Thank God for the reminder of the character qualities we need.
Ask for help in these areas.
Pray for a strong desire to be like Jesus.
Ask for endurance for the uphill journey.
SUGGESTED PRAYER –
Father in Heaven we thank You for Your faithfulness to us in exposing our lack of Christian character qualities and helping us develop the virtues You desire us to have. We confess that without them we cannot advance in maturity. Please give us an unrelenting desire to be like Jesus and hope beyond our immaturity. We desperately need Your help with this uphill journey which may sometimes feel like it’s unending. Thank You that Your Holy Spirit will never forsake us and provide endurance every step of the way.
In Jesus' Name, Amen.
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