I have been led this week to start studying the gospel of Matthew with the theme of Christ like character! You see my desire is Philippians 1:20- that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that Christ would be magnified in my life whether by life or death. This has brought me to dig deeper into my own life and to see where I can become more of a vessel of honor for Jesus. Character is described as a mark or distinction that sets apart one from the other. I liken it to a birthmark that we have, sometimes it isn't not visible but it is a marker to distinguish me from everyone else. Character is not the action that we take, it is much deeper than that, our actions are a reflection of what our character is. We can fake an action but we can not hide what our true character is because it will come out sooner or later, or in the dark places in our lives. (That will preach) However, I noticed in Matthew 4 and the story of Jesus being tempted by the devil that there is an underlying factor to Jesus reactions and words. HIS FOUNDATION AND HIS CHARACTER WAS BASED ON THE WORD OF GOD! His actions were a reflection of Gods word as the true nature of His character. His response in times of temptation was that Gods word was more important to Him than the fleeting moment of pleasure. Let me also remind all of us that there was no one else there except Jesus, satan and the scorpions :) The depth of His character had the word of God planted in the soil of His life and it produced the fruit of righteousness. Character will produce results, Jesus said in Matthew 7 that unless foundations are built upon the word then they will fall and fail. Our character is no different, it must be built upon the rock of Gods word. So here is a tough question, " Does your reactions, actions, and passions reflect Gods word?" This is a question that I had to answer and I didn't like the answer. Temptation will come, if satan tempted Jesus you better believe that he will tempt you as well. It will continue, and get stronger but if our character is lined with Gods word then we can say," It is written satan!" Be blessed today and let the truth of Gods word begin to shape your character as you spend time with Him.
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