Section 12—Problems in Adjustment1
Chapter 59—Character Formation (Part 2)
Undisciplined Characters Are Discordant—Characters formed by circumstance are changeable and discordant—a mass of contraries. Their possessors have no high aim or purpose in life. They have no ennobling influence upon the characters of others. They are purposeless and powerless.—Testimonies for the Church 4:657 (1881).
No One Can Injure Character as Much as We Ourselves—We may expect that false reports will circulate about us; but if we follow a straight course, if we remain indifferent to these things, others will also be indifferent. Let us leave to God the care of our reputation…. Slander can be lived down by our manner of living; it is not lived down by words of indignation. Let our great anxiety be to act in the fear of God and show by our conduct that these reports are false.
No one can injure our character as much as [we] ourselves. It is the weak trees and the tottering houses that need to be constantly propped. When we show ourselves so anxious to protect our reputation against attacks from the outside, we give the impression that it is not blameless before God and that it needs therefore to be continually bolstered up.—Manuscript 24, 1887. (The S.D.A. Bible Commentary 3:1160, 1161.)
Controlled by Will—You cannot control your impulses, your emotions, as you may desire, but you can control the will, and you can make an entire change in your life. By yielding up your will to Christ, your life will be hid with Christ in God and allied to the power which is above all principalities and powers. You will have strength from God that will hold you fast to His strength; and a new light, even the light of living faith, will be possible to you….There will be in you a power, an earnestness, and a simplicity that will make you a polished instrument in the hands of God.—Testimonies for the Church 5:514, 515 (1889).
Defects Can Be Overcome—Let no one say, I cannot remedy my defects of character. If you come to this decision, you will certainly fail of obtaining everlasting life. The impossibility lies in your own will. If you will not, then you can not overcome. The real difficulty arises from the corruption of an unsanctified heart and an unwillingness to submit to the control of God.—Christ’s Object Lessons, 331 (1900).
To the heart that has become purified, all is changed. Transformation of character is the testimony to the world of an indwelling Christ. The Spirit of God produces a new life in the soul, bringing the thoughts and desires into obedience to the will of Christ; and the inward man is renewed in the image of God. Weak and erring men and women show to the world that the redeeming power of grace can cause the faulty character to develop into symmetry and abundant fruitfulness.—Prophets and Kings, 233 (1917).
Defective Characters Sometimes Inherited—There are all kinds of characters to deal with in the children and youth, and their minds are impressionable. Many of the children who attend our schools have not had proper training at home. Some have been left to do as they pleased; others have been found fault with and discouraged. Very little pleasantness and cheerfulness have been shown them; few words of approval have been spoken to them. They have inherited the defective characters of their parents, and the discipline of the home has been no help in the formation of right character.—Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, 192 (1913).
Defects Strengthen With Years—The children learn lessons that are not easily unlearned. Whenever they are subjected to unaccustomed restraint or required to apply themselves to hard study, they appeal to their injudicious parents for sympathy and indulgence. Thus a spirit of unrest and discontent is encouraged, the school as a whole suffers from the demoralizing influence, and the teacher’s burden is rendered much heavier. But the greatest loss is sustained by the victims of parental mismanagement. Defects of character which a right training would have corrected are left to strengthen with years, to mar and perhaps destroy the usefulness of their possessor.—The Review and Herald, March 21, 1882. (Fundamentals of Christian Education, 65.)
Indulgence Unsettles Character—In some families the wishes of the child are law. Everything he desires is given him. Everything he dislikes he is encouraged to dislike. These indulgences are supposed to make the child happy, but it is these very things that make him restless, discontented, and satisfied with nothing. Indulgence has spoiled his appetite for plain, healthful food, for the plain, healthful use of his time; gratification has done the work of unsettling that character for time and for eternity.—Manuscript 126, 1897. (Child Guidance, 272.)
Mind and Heart to Be Disciplined—Children who are allowed to have their own way are not happy. The unsubdued heart has not within itself the elements of rest and contentment. The mind and heart must be disciplined and brought under proper restraint in order for the character to harmonize with the wise laws that govern our being. Restlessness and discontent are the fruits of indulgence and selfishness. The soil of the heart, like that of a garden, will produce weeds and brambles unless the seeds of precious flowers are planted there and receive care and cultivation. As in visible nature, so is it with the human soul.—Testimonies for the Church 4:202, 203 (1876).
https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/78.898#917
Dear Heavenly Father, Thank You for the divine privilege to be transformed into your image. Please bless us to overcome all hereditary and cultivated tendecies to sin and to trust You, regardless of circumstances. Please grant to us that strength of abiding faith. Teach us how to submit to and trust Your Holy Spirit to work within us to love and show mercy and compassion toward others, according to Your divine purpose. Through the power of Your Holy Spirit, please bless us to be all You would have us be, and grant to us the mind and love and faith of Jesus that others might be drawn to You through how we live and what we say, especially in the most trying of circumstances. Because we ask all these in the Awesome name of Your Son, Almighty Jesus the Christ, our Savior, we say Thank You and Amen.
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DID YOU KNOW THIS…?
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.— Romans 12:2 KJV —The WORD OF GOD—It’s the only flesh that is safe to eat (meditate on) to live forever!]
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Do you feel sorrowful, disconnected—without a place to feel at home or useful? I pray this might show you the way forward. Watch…
https://www.youtube.com/live/2QB6fcwVuws?si=fsEvZU-rkI-BngfD
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Thursday, October 8: “Japanese Cooking with the Children”
*Exception: $10 for any cooking class
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I coordinate wonderful health and worship events and conferences online and onsite as a gospel medical missionary at Uchee Pines, a total plant-based health retreat, where doctors and practitioners specialize in lifestyle medicine. For event details, visit https://www.ucheepines.org/events
Therefore, if at any time you fail to receive this post as a text, please visit
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where devotionals are first posted daily (almost without fail). From there devotionals are publicly shared to my page on FB, LinkedIn, and Signal (in My Story), and to a response-restricted group on WhatsApp (once again when I am able to find the time to successfully rebuild it).
NOTE: These began as daily texts to encourage my academy roommate and dear friend of nearly 50 years, until she suddenly passed March 2023. Now I continue to compile and send them to anyone who will receive them and to her family in honor of their mom. Lately, I have begun featuring consecutive chapter portions of a select Bible-based book.
If you agree to continue receiving them, then this is my personal gift to you; and in this way, I not only honor God but the memory of a very dear friend whom I desperately miss.
My personal prayer is that God will bless me to find ways to multiply this gift, so that we all may be encouraged to be found faithful in the sight of a Holy God, whenever Christ returns or our eyes are shut in the sleep of death.
It is a prayerful process that leads me to share from my personal study.
So please feel free to forward to your loved ones or to anyone, as God leads you.
I’m calling them Barb’s Devotionals.