Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. Mark 13:33
The election is over, and I have to say that I’m relieved that my phone might not be ringing so much. I’ve tried to talk to animated voices, but their alertness is not quite there to give me an appropriate response. Also, what is it about competition that can bring out nasty character traits in people? We forget that when we point a finger at someone else, we have three pointing back at ourselves.
We make mistakes because we’re human, but how awesome is it that we can learn and grow? It’s a dangerous thing to start believing the lie about not being able to improve. We shouldn’t ever let the devil tell us that it’s just who we are. We need to remember whose we are. We are God’s children! That beats everything else.
I recently realized that I was letting things into my heart that started to affect my character. So not cool! I wasn’t super excited to be around myself, so I can’t imagine that I was a barrel of fun for other people to be around me. We can try to place blame or make excuses, but the fact of the matter is that we need to take responsibility for our behavior. Don’t let a negative character wipe out everything good we’ve learned.
The boys and I did a character study using characterfirst.com where we learned that character is the inward values that determine outward actions. I felt it was time for me to refresh my mind and heart of what God expects. If my outward actions aren’t exactly what I hope for them to be, then I need to be concerned that somewhere along the way my inward values got off track.
When I write these blogs, the things I write about are what I’m experiencing, what I’ve learned, and what I need to work on. It’s a perfect time to focus on how thankful we can be that even though we deal with sin, God has given us the ability to have a strong character. We can’t necessarily control what happens to us, but with His help, we can control our reactions. We can keep our character when it feels like everything else is being taken from us. Nobody can take that unless we let them.
I’m going to go through a Renewing My Character Journey…maybe you’ll want to join me…
The first trait is Alertness-being aware of what is taking place around me so I can have the right responses (definition from characterfirst.com). The animated voices that I had to listen to over the telephone certainly didn’t have alertness. How often though, are we like those animated voices?
We give the same responses without really listening to what is being said. Here’s an example. Someone says, “What’s going on?” We say, “Fine, thank you.” What? We weren’t very alert because our response didn’t match the question. We just assumed they would ask how we were. Who knows where our minds were, but it certainly wasn’t in the conversation.
People know pretty quickly when we’re being genuine in our alertness or thinking about something else when they’re talking to us. We really need to listen and engage in conversations without being so worried about what we’re going to say next that we miss out on some wonderful thoughts from the person we’re talking to. Being alert in our conversations is a great way to show respect to others. When we’re alert, we’re saying that we care about those around us, and we’re willing to give them our attention. This goes with the next character trait too!
Today, be alert in what is going on around you. Give yourself permission to be in the moment. If you do, you might hear something God is trying to tell you. Even if you don’t, you’re blessing someone else by showing them respect. Don’t get so wrapped up in the future or the past that you miss out on the present. Stay alert!
