Christian Living on Character Development

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1 Peter 2:2, 1 Thessalonians 3:12, Genesis 37:50, Exodus 3:11–12 , Isaiah 40:29–31 , John 15:1–5, Romans 5:3–5, Psalm 1:1–3, Luke 2:40, 52; 1

Christian character is not an act but a process, not a sudden creation but a development. It grows and bears fruit like a tree; it requires patient care and unwearied cultivation.

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Our Character

Author

Dan B. Allender

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Scripture

1 Timothy 4:12, Galatians 5:22-23, Philippians 2:15, 2 Peter 1:5-7, Proverbs 27:17, Romans 5:3-4, Genesis 1:27

The actual word in the Greek—charaktér—originally was used in connection with tools designed for engraving. And character is indeed a tool that marks us—that in one sense cuts us, shapes us, and engra...

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Sometimes Integrity Costs Big

Author

Craig Groeschel

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Scripture

Luke 15:11-32, Acts 16:22-26, Genesis 39:41, 1 Peter 4:16, Psalm 34:18, Romans 5:3-5, 2 Corinthians 12:9

I spent a considerable amount of time with a guy I’ll call Martin. As a brand-new follower of Christ, Martin felt guilty for having previously embezzled a lot of money from his employer. After discuss...

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Nelson Mandela and a Presidency of Reconciliation

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Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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Scripture

Romans 12:18, Philemon 1:15-16, Matthew 18:15, Romans 5:10, Colossians 1:20, Matthew 5:23-24

What does true forgiveness and reconciliation look like? The world was given such an image the day Nelson Mandela was sworn in as President of South Africa. What was so significant was not just that a...

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The Road to Hope

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

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Scripture

Romans 5:3-5

On May 20, 1990, 42-year-old Georgene Johnson arrived 15 min early for her 10K race (6.2 mi) as part of the Revco-Cleveland Marathon and found runners already heading down the course. So, she jumped i...

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Adapted from “The Precious Blood” in The Valley of Vision

Author

Arthur Bennett

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Psalm 51:1-2, Luke 23:39-43, Luke 15:11-32, Ephesians 2:4-5, Romans 5:8, Isaiah 53:5

Leader: Blessed Lord Jesus, before your cross I kneel and see the heinousness of my sin, my iniquity that caused you to be made a curse, the evil that provokes divine wrath. All: Show me the enormit...

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Wrestling with the Devil or God?

Author

Ronald Rohlheiser

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Scripture

Genesis 32:24-28, Genesis 32:30, Hosea 12:3-4, Hebrews 5:12-14, 1 Corinthians 3:1-2, Romans 5:3-5, James 1:2-4, Luke 9:23-24, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Maturation is a lifelong journey with different phases, human and spiritual. And it has many setbacks. What can be helpful is to have a grasp of the natural seasons of our lives and how these interfac...

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Fathers and Faith

Author

Lee Strobel

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Scripture

Romans 5:6-8, Titus 3:5, Ephesians 2:8-9, Mark 10:17-22, Galatians 2:16

In his book The Case for Grace , pastor and author Lee Strobel describes a dream he had as a child after having a significant argument with his father. Strobel does what most of us would do at that...

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Attempted Shortcuts to Love

Author

John Starke

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Scripture

1 John 3:1, John 4:1-26, Luke 19:1-10, Galatians 5:13-14, Romans 5:5-8, 1 John 4:16

“Most of their vices are attempted short cuts to love,” writes John Steinbeck in East of Eden, a book full of characters who crave the love of a father, a brother, a lover, a son. The experience of fu...

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The Scottish Discus Thrower

Author

John Eldredge

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Scripture

James 1:2-4, Romans 5:3-5, Job 23:10, 1 Corinthians 9:25-27, Hebrews 12:11

As a young boy, around the time my heart began to suspect that the world was a fearful place and I was on my own to find my way through it, I read the story of a Scottish discus thrower from the ninet...

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Deus ex machina

Author

Casey Clark

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Scripture

Romans 5:1-11

While there are an infinite number of ways for a movie to fall short, a common complaint is if the inciting incident of the drama is solved in a way that comes out of nowhere, even breaking the logic ...

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Entering the Darkroom

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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Scripture

Ephesians 2:10, Psalm 139:12, Romans 5:3-4, Isaiah 45:3, Ephesians 2:10

While we are now surrounded by a never-ending number of pixels with our smartphones, there once was a time where the process of developing photographs took something much more significant than pointin...

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“I am Buying Your Soul”

Author

Victor Hugo

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Scripture

Genesis 45:1-15, Titus 3:5, Romans 5:20, Ephesians 2:8-9, Luke 19:1-10, Luke 15:11-32, John 8:1-11

One of the most powerful illustrations of grace and mercy in all of western literature has to be the great scene between Monseigneur Bienvenu and Jean Valjean in the stirring epic Les Miserables by Vi...

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The Stockdale Paradox

Author

Tod E. Bolsinger

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Scripture

John 16:33, Psalm 34:18-19, Hebrews 12:1-2, Philippians 4:12-13, Isaiah 40:31, 2 Corinthians 4:8-9, Romans 5:3-5

James Stockdale and what is now known as the Stockdale Paradox comes from his experience as a prisoner of war for seven years during the Vietnam War. The Stockdale Paradox, made famous in Jim Collins’...

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Atonement

Author

Ian McEwan

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Scripture

Ephesians 1:7, Romans 5:8, Micah 6:8, Hebrews 9:22, Psalm 51:1-2, Isaiah 1:18

When something has gone wrong, justice needs to be done and seen to be done. Ian McEwan’s novel Atonement examines exactly this same dynamic. The central character, Bryony Tallis, makes a grave mista...

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Caring Christians

Author

Ralph Neighbor

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Scripture

1 John 3:18, 1 Peter 2:12, Matthew 5:16, Luke 6:32-35, Romans 5:8

Even if people reject the gospel, we still must love them. A good example of this was reported by Ralph Neighbour, pastor of Houston’s West Memorial Baptist Church (in Death And The Caring Community ...

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Author

Richard Rohr

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Scripture

Romans 8:28, Luke 22:54-62, John 21:15-17, Proverbs 3:5-6, Hebrews 12:5-6, Romans 5:3-5, James 1:2-4

We live a long time in order to become lovers. God is like a good parent, refusing to do our homework for us. We must learn through trial and error. We have to do our homework ourselves, the homework ...

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Author

Charles F. Stanley

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Scripture

James 1:2-4, Romans 5:3-5, 2 Corinthians 4:17-18, 1 Peter 1:6-7, Isaiah 41:10, Psalm 34:19

Adversity is not simply a tool. It is God's most effective tool for the advancement of our spiritual lives. The circumstances and events that we see as setbacks are oftentimes the very things that...

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Author

Rainer Maria Rilke

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Scripture

Psalm 23:4, Philippians 3:13-14, Lamentations 3:22-23, Isaiah 43:2, 2 Corinthians 4:16-17, Psalm 30:5, Romans 5:3-5

Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final.

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Author

George Müller

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Scripture

1 Corinthians 10:13, Hebrews 12:11, Isaiah 40:31, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Romans 5:3-5, James 1:2-4

If we desire our faith to be strengthened, we should not shrink from opportunities where our faith may be tried, and therefore, through trial, be strengthened.

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God of power, love and wisdom: you’ve

Author

Richard Herman

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Scripture

Jeremiah 29:11, John 8:1-11, Acts 9:1-19, Luke 15:11-32, 2 Timothy 1:9-10, Titus 3:3-7, Romans 5:8

God of power, love and wisdom: you’ve known us and loved us from before we even were, and extended your grace to us before we knew your name. You save us from ourselves – from our arrogance, rebell...

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Fear & Growth, Risk & Comfort

Author

John Ortberg

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Scripture

Matthew 8:20, Philippians 3:8, Hebrews 12:11, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Romans 5:3-4, James 1:2-4, Luke 9:23

Fear and growth go together like macaroni and cheese. It’s a package deal. The decision to grow always involves a choice between risk and comfort. This means that to be a follower of Jesus you must re...

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Author

Augustine of Hippo

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Scripture

Romans 5:3-5, Micah 6:8, 2 Timothy 1:7, Joshua 1:9, Isaiah 1:17

Hope has two beautiful daughters; their names are Anger and Courage. Anger at the way things are, and Courage to see that they do not remain as they are.

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“Dear Paco,”

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Colossians 3:13, Matthew 6:14-15, Ephesians 4:31-32, Romans 5:10, Colossians 1:20, 2 Corinthians 5:18-19

Ernest Hemingway grasped some of the difficulty that characterizes relationships between fathers and sons in his short story, The Capital of the World . The story revolves around a father and his t...

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Our Hope Gets Manipulated

Author

Elyse M. Fitzpatrick

Keywords

Hope

Scripture

Philippians 1:6, Romans 5:3-5, Jeremiah 29:11, 2 Peter 3:18, James 1:2-4, Psalm 121:1-2

It’s part of the life cycle of every living thing to grow and mature. It’s also natural for us to hope that we will be better people today than we were yesterday and that the things that trouble us at...

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Author

Laura Sobiech

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Scripture

Romans 8:18, Philippians 4:6-7, Psalm 30:5, 1 Peter 5:10, James 1:2-4, Isaiah 61:3, Romans 5:3-5

“[Zach] had gone from seeing beauty in the midst of suffering to creating it. He had taken this thing that could have suffocated him with despair and stripped it down until all that was left was hope....

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The Spirit & Temptation

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Scripture

Matthew 4:1, Matthew 4:3, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Romans 5:3-5, Mark 1:12-13, 1 Kings 19:4-8, James 1:2-4

In their excellent book Invitation to a Journey , M. Robert Mulholland and Ruth Haley Barton discuss the poignant insight that it is the Spirit that leads Jesus into the Wildnerness. What does this...

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Accelerated Growth: Stretching Your Crops

Author

Michael Steinberg

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Scripture

Hebrews 10:36, Romans 5:3-4, Mark 4:28, Galatians 6:9, Isaiah 40:31, Psalm 27:14

The inordinate desire in the west to increase productivity, to go faster and faster, especially in business, can actually become counterproductive. In this short story from the Chinese philosopher Men...

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Not Until After My Death

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 45:1-15, Matthew 18:21-35, Ephesians 4:32, Romans 5:10, Mark 11:25, Colossians 3:13, Matthew 5:44

Frederick William I was a king of Prussia in the early 18th century. Personality-wise, he was described as exacting, frugal and austere. He was known to beat his children when they disappointed him. H...

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Sticks & Stones in Your Bed

Author

Timothy Keller

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Scripture

Hebrews 12:6-7, James 1:2-4, Psalm 94:12-13, Proverbs 3:11-12, Romans 5:3-5

Years ago, I read an old fairy tale about a wicked witch who lived in a remote cottage in the deep forest. When travelers came through looking for lodging, she offered them a meal and a bed. It was th...

christian living on Character Development

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