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The Evidence Of Faith’s Substance The Proverbs...
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The Evidence Of Faith’s Substance The Proverbs Ladder of Character: My Character = A Heart Issue
February 9, 2013
Ed Croteau
Proverbs 4:23
“Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it come the issues of life.”
In “The Abolition of Man”, CS Lewis said “We make men without chests and expect from them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst.” God is in the business of making men and woman with chests (character), and to Him honor is everything. He expects you to play an active role with Him, in not only the development of your character but in guarding your heart against anything that would thwart His work in you. How am I suppose to “work with Him” so He can accomplish His purpose in me? There are four truths to Proverbs 4:23 that we must embrace, if He is to “work in your heart” to make you into a “man or woman with a chest”, a person of virtue and honor.
Truth #1: Your character requires a sensitive HEART. The more you love someone, the less you tolerate things that hurt them. This is exactly how God, who loves you, wants you to treat Him – as you read the Bible, you are sensitive to His commandments, desiring to please Him by obeying Him. Does your lifestyle please Him? In John 14:15, He makes loving Him easy to understand: “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” By the way, “keeping” the commandments, and “keeping” your heart in Proverbs 4:23, mean the same thing: guarding over them as a farmer tending his crops, to ensure a good harvest.
Truth #2: Your character requires the RENEWAL process. You know what Character is NOT: doing what’s good for you, or what’s easy for you, or what comes naturally to you. And you now know what Character IS: conforming yourself to Christ’s image by allowing Him to transform (renew) you. As Romans 12:2 says, if you don’t renew your mind by embracing Christ as your Lord, you won’t be transformed by Him but instead you’ll start conforming your character to the culture - things will stay the way they are: “…do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed, by the RENEWING of your mind…”,
Truth #3: God doesn’t ask for my commitment – He asks for my renewal. Making a commitment is nothing but a sincere, external gesture – it says nothing about what’s INSIDE me. Most of my promises are beyond my ability to keep them. As Proverbs 3:5-6 says, my Christianity isn’t an event – it’s a lifelong process of sensitizing my heart to seek His standards: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.”
Truth #4: Renewing my heart requires me to see things from His PERSPECTIVE. My spiritual maturity involves learning to see things from God’s perspective (when I view things through His word, His commandments start making sense to me, my motivation to obey skyrockets, and I want to please him). Proverbs 8:32-34 says “Now therefore, LISTEN TO ME, My children, for blessed are those who keep My ways. Hear instruction and be wise, and do not disdain it. Blessed is the man who LISTENS TO ME…”
In “Louder than Words”, Andy Stanley does a masterful job explaining how we work with God, our Father, in the development of our character: “Remember trying to dress your child when they were newborns?
They’d twist and squirm as you tried to get their arms and legs into the clothes. I was only successful when I focused on “1 hole at a time”. It was never easy - I had to wrestle them into their clothes. That’s because they didn’t understand the process of getting dressed until they matured. Then, little by little, they started catching on and cooperating. They’d see the shirt coming and lean their head toward it. They’d start putting their arms through the sleeves by themselves. Soon, things go easier as they knew what to expect. They knew where the “getting dressed” process would end up. Developing character depends on my willingness to cooperate. God wants to clothe me with His character. But if I don’t understand what He’s trying to accomplish, or why, I’ll make the process more difficult and time-consuming. Just like little babies, I often squirm and wriggle and resist what God is trying to do in my life. But like the good parent that He is, God is working to shape my character – and He is relentless. Since the day I was born, conforming me to Him has been His priority. But while He is faithfully working to produce character in me, much of my progress depends on my heart’s willingness to cooperate. What’s my agenda for me? Is my priority for my life the same as His? Or do I give lip service to my relationship with Jesus, inviting Him into my decisions only when I desperately need help or it fits my lifestyle? Imagine my potential for an abundant life if I worked with Him instead of around or against Him! As I renew my heart and mind, I start to understand and cooperate with His purposes for me, instead of fighting them.”
Ed Croteau is a resident of Lee’s Summit and hosts a weekly study in Lees Summit called “Faith: Substance and Evidence.” He can be reached with your questions through the Lee’s Summit Tribune at Editor@lstribune.net.
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