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Wednesday, May 16, 2012

I Forced Myself!

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I want to begin with an astonishing statement. Your pastor doesn’t leap out of bed early each morning and say, “Glory to God, I get to read my Bible and pray today!”

There are times when even the best of Christians struggle to do the things that they know are necessary for success in the spiritual arena. The greatest enemy in the battle for Christian growth is not sin, society or even Satan. The most formidable foe is self.

Self wants to sleep in instead of rising early to meet with God. Self desires to just drift along instead of moving forward. Left unchecked, self will be content to meander in the maze of mediocrity.
Because of our sinful nature, there is a part of our “Self” that just does not want to do right. What can a Christian do to succeed against self?

I sometimes counsel young people who have lost their desire for spiritual things. My advice to them is to always do what you know to be right even when you do not feel like it.

There is a phrase in I Samuel 13:12 that arrested my attention. I Samuel 13:12 says, “Therefore said I, The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the LORD: I forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering.”

There are times when we may not feel like reading our Bibles, praying, attending church, visiting our bus route, obeying our parents or fulfilling our responsibilities around our homes, but we need to force ourselves to do right anyway.

This is the essence of character. Character is the subconscious doing of right. This means we do right by reflex. However, before anyone can instinctively do right, he must first consciously do right. Before any person will subconsciously do right, he must program himself to consciously do right.

Dr. Bill Rice III used to say, “Character is doing right without regard to inward desire, outward pressure, or eventual outcome.” Dr. Bob Jones, Sr. was known for saying, “Do right ‘till the stars fall.”

We build character by disciplining ourselves to faithfully complete the miniscule tasks of life until they become a habit. Phillips Brooks commented, “Character may be manifested in the great moments, but it is made in the small ones.” Another said, “Character is simply long habit continued.”

It is difficult to overstate the importance of character. Character is vital to success. No amount of riches can atone for poverty of character.

Dr. Jeff Owens rightly stated, “It does not matter how much talent you have, if you don’t have the character to get out of bed each morning, you will be a loser.” Another well-known quote attributed to Dr. Bob Jones, Sr. is “You can borrow brains, but you can’t borrow character.”

People with character flourish; those without it fail. People with character soar; those without it sink. People with character become winners; those without it become whiners.

Someone said that the only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary. A person with no character will be unwilling to do the work required to be a success.

It has been said, “Sow a thought, reap an act; sow an act, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny.”

Your destiny in life to a large extent will be determined by your character.

Got character? You’re on the street to success.

No character? You’re on the road to ruin.

Christian friend, you may not feel like doing right today. You may not want to read your Bible or pray. You may dread doing your duties this day.

Force yourself! Do right anyway! You won’t be sorry.
[Tony Bazen – Park Meadows Baptist Church]
 

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