Let The Faithful Correct Me

I was getting ready to print individual pages of a document and when typing in which numbered pages I wanted printed, I accidentally typed a letter instead of a number. A warning popped up which said, "Unacceptable character." It caught me off guard at first because I didn't know what I had done to get the warning, but then I chuckled when I thought how interesting it would be if that popped up when our personality flaws reared their ugly heads. You know, when we say that cuss word we shouldn't have. When we gossip. When we're jealous. When we selfishly put ourselves before others. When we lie. When we have a short fuse. When we're impatient. The list goes on. During those moments, we could hear a whisper in our ear: "Unacceptable character."

The things is, we know what unacceptable character is. God tells us what the acceptable character traits are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, generosity and self-control. Those are the fruits of the Spirit as explained by Paul in Galatians 5:22. But sometimes those unacceptable things slip out before we think. In Psalm 141:3 it says, "Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips. Do not turn my heart to any evil." And later in that Psalm in verse 5, "Let the faithful correct me." So if you have a brother or sister in Christ offering you counsel, lean in, listen, repent and implement.

Set yourself to a higher standard. We are God's children and therefore should behave as such. It's better if we catch ourselves and change before others do the intervening. And the best way to stay on top of that is to be in the Word. Be in prayer. Examine our ways against the ways of Christ. The only way you know what Godly behavior is if you read what God says it is. 

Be especially cautious to be of good character with your betrothed. Often we take advantage of that relationship, and they don't deserve it. Don't they deserve the very best part of you? So be sure your character reflects the Lord of love.

Discussion: What are some character traits you need to work on? What would help prevent you from slipping into bad character habits?

Prayer: Lord God, you showed us through your son Jesus how we are to behave. We pray, Father, that we imitate Him and show people through our behavior that we belong to you. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

No Question

I have a Christian fish on my car. And a Bible verse (Deut. 6:5). And a cross hanging from my rearview mirror. And a bumper sticker of The River, Christian radio station. And a decal that says He>i. When you see my car, you should have no question the driver is a Christian.

There is a cross hanging outside our home. There are crosses all over the inside and Bibles in just about every room. There are Bible verses hanging on the walls and oftentimes Christian music playing in the stereo. When you come into our home, you should have no question Christians live here.

This should be the same case when you meet us ... you should have no question when watching us and speaking to us that we are Christians. We want it to be obvious. If someone accuses us of being Christian, we hope there will be plenty of evidence. And not just "Oh, she wears a cross necklace" or "They go to church every Sunday" or "I've caught him reading her Bible." We would prefer people catch us in the act of being a Christian. Loving someone, serving others, letting our speech reflect our faith.

We are living in a culture perpetually pulling us away from what God has called us to be ... reflecting those Fruits of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control as found in Galatians 5:22-23. Are you loving? Are you peaceful? Are you generous? Are you kind? Are you joyful? Are you patient? Are you faithful? Do you have self-control? Are you gentle? There may be one or more of those that you will say "no" to ... well, then, work on it.

We will have countless opportunities within our marriages and in our daily life to blow it. To not be godly. To not reflect Christ. We need to reach beyond our human failings and strive to be what God expects of us. We need to catch our minds when they traverse into spiritually unhealthy areas. We need to stop ourselves before we respond in unrighteous anger. We need to "take every thought captive to obey Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5). Stop inappropriate responses and words from leaving your lips. Quash feelings of jealousy. Forgive over and over again. Love our enemies and pray for them. Care for the poor and sick. Visit the lonely. Love, love, love, love, love.

It doesn't matter what you stick on your car, hang in your house or wear on your body. What matters is what people see in you. The old hymn says, And they'll know are Christians by our love, by our love. Yes, they'll know we are Christians by our love." Let there be no question.

Discussion: What evidence can people give to prove you are a Christian? Which of the Fruits of the Spirit do you need a little work on?

Prayer: Father, let not just our outward appearance, but also our inward heart be an advertisement of Your great love. Father, every day is a challenge. Help us remember to take our thoughts captive to You, praise and glorify You. In Jesus, Amen.

Where There Is Kindness

I am making meatloaf for Daddy for dinner tonight. Aside from kishka, which I will never make in this lifetime, meatloaf is his favorite meal. It's Grandpa Z's recipe, filled with oatmeal, Ritz crackers, Whatsthishere Sauce (Worcestershire), BBQ sauce and eggs. He loves it. It's one of those comfort foods that I know will bring him peace as soon as he smells it. And it's one of the few foods your Daddy will actually eat every leftover of. I have never thrown an ounce of the two pound meatloaf away, ever. It's one of those things I will make for him when I know he's had a rough or busy day. It's a meal to sigh over for him.

Wednesday Daddy asked me if I would lead acapella singing on a hymn at a funeral. He asked me as I was driving to the funeral because the person who was supposed to sing it backed out. Now, I have no trouble singing, but I have terrible stage fright and this was in front of a large group of people without ever practicing. My gut was saying "Heck no!" but I the family had no one else. So I did it for Daddy ... reluctantly yes, but I did it. The whole time I am singing, "It Is Well With My Soul," I'm thinking to myself, "No, it is not." But I love him, so I did it.

Two days ago, Daddy carried every single packed Christmas box back up to the attic. Not because he likes to, but because he loves me. It's the same reason he dragged every last one of them down from the attic for me. Love.

It's those gestures, those moments that truly show love. That thing you do or buy just because they like it. That extra effort you make. You will have zillions of opportunities to do these things over the years. Not all will be fun for you, but they will certainly mean something to your loved one.

Galatians 6:9 says "Let us not lose heart in doing good." And Philippians 2:3-7 says: "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men." And who better to do all these things for than our spouse?

It's loving kindness, plain and simple.

There is a new movie coming out March 13 called Cinderella. In the trailer for the movie, the momma says to little Cinderella, "You have more kindness in your little finger than most people possess in their whole body. And where there is kindness there is goodness and where there is goodness, there is magic." So make an effort to stir up some magic in marriage. You are both worth it.

Now, I've got to go finish this magical meatloaf.

Discussion: Tell about specific things you remember your loved one doing for you out of kindness?

Prayer: Lord, You do sweet things for us all the time because of how much you love us. Thank you for that example. May we remember to not only do kind things for our spouse, but also for all those around us. In Jesus, Amen.