Whether life grinds a man down or polishes him depends on what he’s made of.
Godly Character
Charles R Swindoll
Great character, like massive roots, grow deep when water is sparse and winds are strong.
Susie Larson
Our witness is only as strong as our freedom is real. We can have the most noble convictions in the world, but if we are snarky and impatient when we don’t get our way, those things will interfere with our influence. If we gossip more than we pray, those misspoken words will demolish our influence. If our addictions get in the way of living out our convictions, we’ll have mostly a negative influence.
Jennie Allen
We are all hiding from each other with big fig leaves, but God says, “You could stop because I am a way better covering. I have an actual payment for all the sin you are hiding. But it will take coming out from behind your leaves. It will take humility to see that you need Me”
Max Lucado
I choose goodness… I will go without a dollar before I take a dishonest one. I will be overlooked before I will boast. I will confess before I will accuse. I choose goodness.
Max Lucado
I choose gentleness… Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle. If I raise my voice may it be only in praise. If I clench my fist, may it be only in prayer. If I make a demand, may it be only of myself.
Jason Vallotton
The healed man is conscious and heart engaged. He is always in process of learning and growing. He strives for a heartfelt awareness. His sense of responsibility extends beyond himself and those around him. His choices are not just for himself but all mankind. He knows how to celebrate both men and women. He is respectful, honoring and gracious. He holds his brothers accountable. He makes amends for his own wrongdoings.
Philip Ryken
The way other people respond reveals their worldview—their faithfulness in keeping a commitment, for example, or their unbelief in the existence and providence of God. Ideas have consequences. Even ordinary interactions reflect our commitments and convictions about the basic issues of art and science, work and play, family and society, life and death. Whenever we bump into the world, our worldview has a way of spilling out. It comes out in what we think and love, say and do, praise and choose.
Ed Stetzer
God’s righteous indignation flows from his love and faithfulness; likewise, if your anger is not consistently and sacrificially tempered by steadfast love and forgiveness, it is not righteous anger. In order to earn the responsibility of displaying God’s righteous anger to the world, you first need to demonstrate that you can be a faithful vessel of his steadfast love and forgiveness.
A.W. Tozer
Sins such as pride, vanity, self-centeredness, levity, worldliness, gluttony, the telling of “white” lies, borderline dishonesty, lack of compassion for the unfortunate, complacency, absorption in the affairs of this life, love of pleasure, the holding of grudges, stinginess, gossiping… are so common that they have been accepted as normal by the average church and are either not mentioned at all or referred to in smiling half-humor by the clergy. While not as spectacular as a roaring weekend drunk or as dramatic as a violent explosion of temper, they are in the long run more deadly than either, for they are seldom recognized as sin and are practically never repented of. They remain year after year to grieve the Spirit and sap the life of the church, while everyone continues to speak the words of the true faith and go through the motions of perfunctory godliness, not knowing that there is anything wrong.