01. Change always starts in your mind. The way you think determines the way you feel, and the way you feel influences the way you act.
02. Character is both developed and revealed by tests, and all of life is a test.
03. God uses his Word, people and circumstances to mold us. All three are indispensable for character development. God's word provides the truth we need to grow, God's people provide the support we need to grow, and circumstances provide the environment we need to grow.
04. Remember that your character is the sum total of your habits.
05. Every problem is a character-building opportunity, and the more difficult it is, the greater the potential for building spiritual muscle and moral fiber.
06. God continually tests peoples character, faith, obedience, love, integrity and loyalty.
07. God has a purpose behind every problem. He uses circumstances to develop our character. In fact, he depends more on circumstances to make us like Jesus than he depends on our reading the Bible.
08. God's ultimate goal for your life on earth is not comfort, but character development. He wants you to grow up spiritually and become like Christ.
09. What happens outwardly in your life is not as important as what happens inside you. Your circumstances are temporary, but your character will last forever.
10. God is far more interested in what you are than who you are.
11. Your commitments can develop you or destroy you, but either way, they will define you.
12. There are illegitimate parents, but I don't believe there are any illegitimate children.
13. Christianity is not a religion or a philosophy, but a relationship and a lifestyle. The core of that lifestyle is thinking of others, as Jesus did, instead of ourselves.
14. A non-serving Christian is a contradiction in terms.
15. Much confusion in the Christian life comes from ignoring the simple truth that God is far more interested in building your character than he is anything else.
16. You didn't create yourself, so there is no way you can tell yourself what you were created for!
17. God develops the fruit of the Spirit in your life by allowing you to experience circumstances in which you're tempted to express the exact opposite quality. Character development always involves a choice, and temptation provides that opportunity.
18. You need to think more about eternity and not less.
19. He (God) usually prefers to work through people rather than perform miracles, so that we will depend on each other for fellowship.
20. At most, you will live a hundred years on earth, but you will spend forever in eternity.
21. When life on earth is ending, people don't surround themselves with objects. What we want around us is people - people we love and have relationships with.
22. Eternal values, not temporal ones, should become the deciding factors for your decisions.
23. When you transfer into eternity, you will leave everything else behind. All you're taking with you is your character.
24. When you live in the light of eternity, your values change.
25. During the next 90 days, people are going to be more open to the Gospel than in years. It is God's responsibility to make people receptive; it is our responsibility to sow the seed.
26. Faithful servants never retire. You can retire from your career, but you will never retire from serving God.
27. Fear is a self imposed prison that will keep you from becoming what God intends for you to be. You must move against it with the weapons of faith and love.
28. Self worth and net worth are not the same.
29. And you know, when you've experienced grace and you feel like you've been forgiven, you're a lot more forgiving of other people. You're a lot more gracious to others.
30. Many people are reluctant to show mercy because they don't understand the difference between trust and forgiveness. Forgiveness is letting go of the past. Trust has to do with future behavior.
31. The Bible says that all people, not just believers, possess part of the image of God; that is why murder and abortion are wrong.
32. God is much more concerned about your character than your career, because you will take your character into eternity, but not your career.
