But now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. - Isaiah 64:8

One of my greatest joys as a Pastor is to have the opportunity to develop Godly men. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a work in progress myself and that is part of the joy.  The scriptures tell me “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” - Proverbs 27:17.  

Recently, in a conversation with a young man over dinner, the discussion turned to the need to make improvements in obedience toward God’s Word and developing a plan for a Godly life.  My friend said “It’s not in my character to do what I know I need to do.”

I stopped him and said something to the effect: “Let’s talk for a moment about what you just said.  You view who you are as your character.  Let me give you a new word for a person’s behavior apart from the Lord’s leading… ‘nature’.  More specifically the scripture calls that part of ourselves the ‘sinful nature’.  It is natural to be lazy and self-serving.  It takes character to resist the temptation to become a self-absorbed black hole.”

As I challenged my friend I challenge you as well not to see your current habits, plagued by paths of least resistance, as ‘character’ and start to see that as your ‘nature’.  Remember that it is your nature that is self-serving first and foremost.  Instead, make a determination to put in the necessary work to become a better, more God-honoring version of yourself.

The analogy comes to mind of former football players who become television broadcasters. They tend to get out of shape and gain weight.  Is that their character showing through or their nature? Their nature of course.  You see, when athletes were being paid to play they were working out harder, watching what they eat and living in a way that developed their bodies for peak performance.  Four percent body fat doesn’t come without intentional sacrifice, focus and lots of hard work.  Being a great dad is the same way.  Being an honorable man, a loving husband and a respected leader are all opposite of our nature but they can come from a person who has developed their character.

The times when I have been at my worst spiritually have always been when I forgot  the aim of the Christian life. The goal of the Christian is not to feed the sinful nature but to develop Christlike character.  Let us each determine today to live as both the image and reflection of God in this world so that others may look to us and see the character of Christ and not the nature of man.

²⁴ 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. ²⁵ Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. ²⁶ So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. ²⁷ But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. - 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Sunday, December 30th,  I had the honor of preaching for my friend, Pastor Jumaine Jones of The Bridge in D.C.  The people of The Bridge are a very kind and generous people and their professionalism ran throughout their entire organization.  It was truly an honor to join The Bridge this past weekend.  The DMV is better because of the people of The Bridge!  Below you can click to listen to the sermon called “Transformed” based on Luke 5:1-11.  The focus is on finding the solution, not simply making a new resolution in 2013.

The night before I spoke at The Bridge, our family enjoyed an evening out at the ice rink in Silver Spring.  We had a great time and Kristy and I have been overwhelmed with joy this holiday season.

Above you can click to play the audio.  A few of the key points were tweeted out here.