character

The one thing that we are going to be able to take with us to heaven is our character. We aren't going to be able to take our phones, vehicles, money, gaming devices, etc. You are taking you and that's final.

God is more interested in our character development than our comfort. We have eternity to get comfortable in heaven, so this is the get ready stage. This is the learning stage. This is the warm-up act.

Our character is everything. When I was looking for jobs, the best companies were the ones that would ask me about my character in the interview. With my job now, I grow my business based off people of high character.

Having good character is so incredibly important, I can't stress it enough. Most of the time, the people with the best character are the ones who will have the most significant impact on others. You could have all the skills in the world, but if your character sucks, you really won't have much of an impact.

So how do we build our character to where it would be a good spot to be at?

I believe it's strongly based on our minds and the things that we think about and focus on.

What we put into our minds determines what comes out in our words and actions..

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things. (Philippians 4:8)

Paul tells us to program our minds with thoughts that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy.

From my experience this hard. When I look at my life from a 30,000 foot view, when my mind ins't focused on those things is when I get on social media and spend too much time on my phone. Outside of that, for me, it's really not that difficult.

Think about it this way...I don't like to keep bringing up this example, but think of what has happened the past couple days about Kobe and Gigi. (everyone else involved)  It's horrific. I am heartbroken. Every time I have gotten on social media, it's all that we see. It's great because everyone is sharing their memoirs about these amazing two people...But seeing it so much, makes me think about it more...If I didn't have a smart phone, and just saw the new article pop up on TV, I would've still been heartbroken, but not as badly.

My point with that, is that our minds are consumed by what we fill them with. If we fill our minds with everything that we see on social media, we are going to be consumed by those things. I am not saying that social media is the worst thing ever...with social media, you're literally one click or even one search away from seeing things that we have no need to see. It's crazy! You're one click away from is being useful and one away from falling into sin.

If you have problems with what you are putting into your mind, think about the things that you are putting in there on a day-to-day basis.

Examine what you are putting in your mind through television, internet, books, conversations, movies, and magazines. Replace the harmful input with wholesome material.

Above all, read God's word and pray. Ask God to help you focus your mind on what is good and pure. It takes practice, but it can be done.

It takes a lot of practice. I really can't put it into words, but from the time I started reading my bible consistently, my growth and character just took off! It wasn't like some crazy thing happened...the more time I spent reading it, the more my mind became focused on the things that Paul encouraged us to focus on. It just took time, and a lot of patience. My hope and prayer is for everyone to get to that point.

What we fill our minds with, most of the time determines our character. My challenge to you is to evaluate what your are consumed with on a day to day basis...if it's something that isn't developing your character, it's probably not worth it.