There are about eight stages of our ... ... ... of ... truth. Ourlives shine as an ever brighter and brighter light as we move from one stage to ... we must
There are about eight stages of our development as
effective "translators" of spiritual truth. Our
lives shine as an ever brighter and brighter light
as we move from one stage to another.
First, we must give Jesus His rightful place at the
center of our lives. Here we gain FAITH.
As we become more aware of good and evil, and turn
away from evil, choosing to do good - because Jesus
is now abiding in us and giving us those inner
nudges and prompts, we grow more virtuous. That is,
you become a GOOD person.
With that comes a deep desire to know more about
God's words in the Bible. Not everyone disciplines
themselves to dig into it as they should, but if
you do, your light shines brighter as you understand
more spiritual truths. Your basic KNOWLEDGE of God
increases.
Knowing God better makes you want to serve Him, and
do things that please Him. Which means we want to
serve and help others around us. Which also means,
we have to deny ourselves time, attention, expense,
and so on, resulting in SELF-CONTROL.
Oh but when we try to serve others we'll soon run
into situations where we are misunderstood. At
times those situations turn into real trials by
fire. Yet, if we hang in there and don't despair,
we'll add ENDURANCE to our more and more lovely
character.
By responding in humility, like Jesus would, to
those that wrong us, we grow in GODLINESS. That
is, we're more and more like Jesus and God.
That humility and godliness will cause us to be
alert and begin to spot others who have been hurt.
Intuitively we'll spot them, and know how to help
them better. So that suffering we have from false
accusations enriches us after all, with KINDNESS.
Now we'll be trying to guide these weaker, hurting
friends through these very steps to maturity,
meaning that we are now reproducing ourselves,
which is true LOVE and the essence of God Himself.
Have you reached maturity in your character
development? Or are you stuck at one of the
earlier stages? Sometimes, just seeing where you
are, relative to where you are headed, can be a
big help to get you moving forward again.
Let your light shine ever brighter and brighter!
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