NON-NEGOTIABLE RESPONSIBILITIES. 009

“Life is disciplinary. While in the world, the Christian will meet with adverse influences. There will be provocations to test the temper; and it is by meeting these in a right spirit that the Christian graces are developed.”

Lord help me to remember that every adversity and every provocation or annoyance is an opportunity for me develop the Christian graces/characteristics. I must do this, this is non-negotiable. I cannot run, I cannot hide. Give me the strength to embrace the opportunities and the pain that brings growth.

“If injuries and insults are meekly borne, if insulting words are responded to by gentle answers, and oppressive acts by kindness, this is evidence that the Spirit of Christ dwells in the heart, that sap from the living Vine is flowing to the branches.”

I know that the Bible says a soft answer turns away wrath (Proverbs 15:1), but sometimes in the moment I want wrath, root that out of me, please Lord. I recognize that sometimes I do not want resolve, I want drama and war, give me a peaceful heart, that motivates me to genuinely desire to live peaceably with all people.

"We are in the school of Christ in this life, where we are to learn to be meek and lowly of heart; and in the day of final accounts, we shall see that all the obstacles we meet, all the hardships and annoyances that we are called to bear, are practical lessons in the application of principles of Christian life. If well endured, they develop the Christlike in the character and distinguish the Christian from the worldling." {5T 344.2}

Lord, sometimes I want the glitz and glam of Christianity, forgetting that Christianity has become Christianity because of a cross. How readily to I shy away from bearing my cross, God change me, please.

There is a high standard to which we are to attain if we would be children of God, noble, pure, holy, and undefiled; and a pruning process is necessary if we would reach this standard. How would this pruning be accomplished if there were no difficulties to meet, no obstacles to surmount, nothing to call out patience and endurance? These trials are not the smallest blessings in our experience. They are designed to nerve us to determination to succeed. We are to use them as God’s means to gain decided victories over self instead of allowing them to hinder, oppress, and destroy us. {5T 344.3}

God thank you for giving me patience and courage, thank you for giving me a new heart, thank you for giving me victory, I pray that as you call those things out, for the world to see, that I may be confident enough to show them.

IJN name.

Photo by Chris Czermak from Pexels