V is for Virtuous or having Virtue! Being virtuous means conforming to moral and ethical principles; being morally excellent and upright. Philippians 4:8 defines virtue: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things”. Colossians 3:13 says “Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive”. That’s virtue! Proverbs 31 describes an excellent or virtuous woman. Guys, you should seek a lady of strong Godly character, great wisdom, skills, and compassion. It is not all about their appearance. Ladies, we should strive to be this lady. Proverbs 31:10 says “Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies”. The lady/man you are seeking should be attractive because of their character, not their appearance. What are you chasing after? Are you a good catch for someone? Do you show virtue? We should all try to be the very best we can be. Proverbs describes virtue all throughout the book. It tells us we should work hard, fear God, respect others, spend money wisely, and seek wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. How are you doing on this list? Are your moral and ethical principles that of God or do they conform to the sin-filled world? 2 Peter 1:5-10 says “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall”. Being virtuous is where success begins.
Prayer starter: Dear Lord, help me to be more concerned with the virtues and character that You say are important. Help me to forget about the world’s description of a good person and cling to the descriptions of Godly Character in Your Word. Mold me to be more like You, in Jesus’ Name, amen.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to be more virtuous. The Bible is a great place to start working on your character.
U is for Understanding! Understanding has two parts: 1) the ability to learn, comprehend, and make decisions; intelligence; and 2) being sympathetic, tolerant, or wise towards people. The first is about gaining knowledge of the Bible. We should ask God to help us understand what His Word says and how to apply it to our lives. Secondly, we should be understanding toward others. We should show them Christ-like love and try to see their point of view. We should try to relate to what is going on in their lives; have compassion. Proverbs 18:2 says “A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion”. Don’t be selfish about having it “your way”, listen to others and be kind. Godly Character is more important that getting it “our way” all the time. Proverbs 2:1-6 says “My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding”. Wisdom and understanding come from God. It is gained by seeking it. His Word reveals it, but we must read His Word if we want to gain it. True understanding is of God and we can’t create it by our own efforts. We have to seek it, want it, and search for it. It doesn’t come easy, nothing we treasure does. Once we obtain it, we must always try to use it and be understanding toward others.
Prayer starter: Heavenly Father, thank you for making understanding and wisdom available to us. Help me to study Your Word more and to earnestly seek understanding. Also, help me to be understanding toward others and show them compassion and mercy, just as You have shown me. I love you, Amen.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to read God’s Word today. Ask God, through prayer, to make the verses become real to you. Ask Him to help you “get it” and understand what you read. Also, show understanding toward others today.
T is for tough word for me to choose…I couldn't decide on Trust in God, being trustworthy, talk to Jesus, talk about Jesus, truthful, using our talents, thoughtfulness, where is your treasure, teaching others about Christ, or thankfulness…just to name a few "T" words that came to my mind as I have thought about Godly character this week. So, today, T is for Thankfulness! Thankfulness is gratitude or appreciation for what someone does for you. It's an attitude of being appreciative and grateful for all circumstances. Living as a thankful person is making a conscious decision to always acknowledge and recognize someone, specifically God, for showing favor and kindness in your life – no matter how good or how bad you may feel at the time. The Bible is full of verses about being thankful. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you". Giving thanks in ALL situations doesn’t mean we thank God for bad things that happen. Bad, mean, hurtful things don’t come from God, so we shouldn’t thank Him for them, but we should be thankful that God is in control of the situation and that He will give us the strength to get through it. We should be thankful that He is letting our faith and maturity grow. God wants what is best for all His children. He wants us to love and honor Him above all else. One way we do this is by giving thanks to Him. Psalm 100:4 says "Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name"! We have so much to be thankful for, but most of all I am thankful for Jesus, my Savior, my Lord! He blesses me so much more than I could ever be worthy. Give thanks to God EVERY DAY! "I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, Most High". (Psalms 9:1-2 ESV)
Prayer starter: Heavenly Father, thank you for all the wonderful blessings and people you have placed in my life. Help me to always be thankful to You. Thank you for dying on the cross for me. I love you, Jesus. In Your Name, amen.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to give God thanks today!
S is for Self-discipline and self-control! Self-discipline is the power or ability to control your thoughts, actions, feelings and desires with the intention of improving yourself. Self-control is restraint exercised over one's own impulses, emotions, or desires. It is self-discipline in action. Galatians 5:22-23 says “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Self-discipline and self-control come from the Holy Spirit living in us. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 says “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified”. It is hard without the help of the Holy Spirit to keep our cool. It can be difficult to not lose our temper or to spout off at the mouth. It can be hard to not go too far in relationships and to save ourselves for marriage. It can be difficult to not overeat or be a slob. It is hard to make it a priority to spend quality time in God’s Word…but all of these things are possible when we let the Holy Spirit control our thoughts, words and actions. With His help, we can accomplish self-discipline and self-control. Tell God what areas you are struggle in and ask Him to help you overcome them. He will when we sincerely ask Him.
Prayer starter: Heavenly Father, please help me learn to control _______ in my life. You know the struggle and battle that I am facing. Give me the strength to stand strong and have self-discipline and self-control. Help me to be a positive example of Your love and not be a negative one. In Christ’ Name I pray, Amen.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to work on your self-control today. Think before you speak or act. Is what you are about to do or say pleasing to God? Is it helpful or hurtful to others and to your testimony? Live out loud for Christ!
R is for Respect! Respect means to view or consider with reverence; to view as having real worth. Showing respect is shown in many ways. It is shown by how we treat others, how we talk to or about people, and how we treat other people’s belongings. When we respect someone with Godly respect, we honor them because of who they are in Christ—a loved child of His. The Bible tells us in Ephesians 6:1-3 and as one of His 10 Commandments “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” No matter how old we are or what we think about our parents, God wants us to respect them – or respect their job as parents. When we respect and honor them, it will be a testimony to them and others of our God and our faith. God blesses the one who honors, respects and loves their parents, according to His Word. If we want people to treat us with respect, then we must first treat others with respect. Home is the first place where we should learn to respect others. We can always work on being more respectful to our families. If we learn to respect our parents, then we will already know how to respect older people, police officers, teachers, bosses, people in authority etc. Respect is a testimony of our faith in Christ and will bring blessings to us in the long run. Are you respectful to others or does sarcasm, hateful words, and bad attitudes seep out of you? Philippians 2:3-4 says “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others”. Is life all about you and what you want and getting things “your” way? When we think of others first and place them ahead of our own needs in life, then we are showing respect and honor.
Prayer starter: Dear Lord, let me be an example of Your Love to others. Help me to show respect to all people and put others in front of myself. Help me to be respectful to those who you set in authority over me. In Your Name, Amen.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to be respectful to everyone you speak to today. Lose the attitude and bring honor and glory to God by showing respect to others!
Q is for Quietness before The Lord!
Quietness means allowing God to speak directly to your heart through the Holy Spirit. Prayer is not just a one way communication. When we pray we are asking God to fulfill His Will in our life, when we are quiet before Him, we are waiting patiently to hear what we should do, and then actually doing what He said when we were still enough to listen and hear Him. To be quite before the Lord, we must remove ourselves from the craziness of our daily lives and spend time focusing on God and His Word. Psalm 46:10 says “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” In Mark 6:31 Jesus said “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” Jesus, himself, even spent time alone in the quietness of God. Mark 1:35 says “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, He (Jesus) departed and went out to a desolate place, and there He prayed”. Psalm 119:18 tells us that when we ask, God will reveal His Word to us: “Open my eyes to see wonderful things in your Word”, for Him to do this, we must get quite and spend time studying and praying. Psalm 37:7 says “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him”. Are you too busy? Do you stop and wait patiently on God to speak to you or do you just rush through a prayer and a little Bible reading? I LIKE, LIKE, LIKE to talk, but even more, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE and treasure my quite time with my Lord! We all need our own little “quite place” before the Lord. We need to stop and spend time with Him, daily. Matthew 11:28 says “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”. Do you need some peace and rest today? It is available through Jesus!
Prayer starter: My Precious Lord, please help me to make it a priority to stop and be quite in Your Presence. Help me to spend time alone with You. Help me see the wonderful things that I need out of Your Word. Fill me with your Presence and help me shine for You. In your Sweet Name I pray, Amen.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to STOP, LOOK, and LISTEN to God and His Word. Allow some quite in your life so He can speak to you today.
P is for Perseverance and Persecution! Perseverance is the quality that allows someone to continue trying to do something even though it is difficult; continued effort, despite difficulties, failure, or opposition. Persecution is to harass or punish in a manner designed to injure, grieve, or afflict; to cause suffering because of belief. As our world continues to drift further away from God we, as Christians, will have to persevere because of persecution. Jude was Jesus’ half-brother and James’ brother. His writing in Jude 1:17-25 says “But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh. Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” We have the power and strength of the Holy Spirit in us to help us during hard times. We should live close to God and His Word and not listen to false teachers or temptations in this world that want to pull us away from our faith. We should also help others come to know Christ and His Power so they can persevere during persecution also. We should hate sin but love unsaved sinners and want them to also have eternal life. Our perseverance and willingness to witness could mean life or death, heaven or hell, for someone we know. We don’t have to be afraid about persecution and the end of this world if we trust God and are rooted in His Word.
Prayer starter: Dear Lord, please help me to stand up for what I believe and to have Your Strength in me to stand strong when I am persecuted. Help me to boldly witness to others in this world and to share my faith with them. You know the temptations I face, and I know You can give me power over them through the Holy Spirit. Fill me with your passion and love for others today. In Jesus’ Name I pray, amen.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to not fear this world, but to stand strong and persevere when you are persecuted. Will you share your faith with someone today?
