The ability to find fault is believed, by some people, to be a sure sign of great wisdom, when, in most cases, it only indicates narrowness of mind and ill-nature.
Godly Character
Vance K Jackson
What’s in your heart? Your words spring from what’s in your heart. If your heart is contaminated, then your words will be tainted also. Try this: For every complaint, dissatisfaction find and meditate upon a scripture that counters the complaint. So speak God’s Word every time you feel negativity rising up inside of you. Before you speak negatively, censor your mouth with God’s Word. Allow God to filter your heart and He will direct your path.
N. T. Wright
Learning who God really is and what he is truly like-and reminding ourselves of it regularly is the key to it all. Without that we will be double-minded, swept this way one minute and that way the next. We’ll just be another wave. With it, you will have a settled character. Wisdom. Patience. Faith.
Jerry Bridges
Here are some questions to help us examine ourselves as Paul exhorts us to do in 2 Cor 13:5.
What is my attitude toward God?
Do I gladly acknowledge my dependence on him, and my accountability to him?
What is my attitude toward my sin?
Am I concerned, or indifferent about it?
What is my attitude toward Jesus Christ?
Do I trust in Him as the one who died from my sin on the cross?
What is my attitude toward the Bible?
Do I truly want to grow in my understanding and application of it in my life?
What is my attitude toward prayer?
Do I also want to grow in this area of my life, or am I quite content to see prayer as an occasional call out to God for help?
What is my attitude toward other Christians?
These are important questions that we should seek to answer truthfully. The stakes are too high to ignore them or play games with our eternal destinies.
Richard C Halverson
Jesus Christ said more about money than about any other single thing because, when it comes to a man’s real nature, money is of first importance. Money is an exact index to a man’s true character. All through Scripture there is an intimate correlation between the development of a man’s character and how he handles his money.
Author Unknown
The most contagious thing you can bring home to your atmosphere is your attitude. Make sure you’re spreading something in your sphere of influence that Jesus does not have to heal.
Shawn Bolz
So many times we try to deal with the symptoms and not the roots. We try to deal with our own identity issues by strengthening things that could be the external branches and not the root system. God wants to strengthen your identity which is your root system. Being rooted and grounded in His truth for you.
Darlene Cunningham
Before our modern era, pillars of marble often supported the weight of a heavy structure. If a stonecutter was dishonest, he would fill a crack in the marble with wax to make it “look” whole, so that he could sell it for a good price. But if the stonemason was wise, when he came to choose the stones he used for pillars, he would heat the marble with a candle. If there was wax, the crevice would be exposed as the wax melted and ran out. When the stone had no wax and no cracks, he would proclaim “this stone has integrity.” That’s the way we want our lives to be – when the heat is on and the pressure comes, we want to unwaveringly communicate and act with unblemished integrity.
Elisabeth Elliot
This job has been given to me to do. Therefore, it is a gift. Therefore, it is a privilege. Therefore, it is an offering I make to God. Therefore, it is to be done gladly, if it is done for Him. Here, not somewhere else, I may learn God’s way. In this job, not in some other, God looks for faithfulness.
John Wesley
Unholy tempers are always unhappy tempers.