March 18th, 2022

And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. (Luke 9:23)

Even after Peter knew the Lord and walked with Him, and was taught of Him, he was still impulsive. He still had a tendency to act first and think later. That was his nature, something he had to constantly work at until he grew restraint and strength of character.

We learn from Peter’s character challenges that what we say and what we do, matters. We can’t take the words back once they are spoken or undo the act once it is done. When Peter acted before thinking, it resulted in him cutting off a soldier’s ear. It took a miracle to correct his error. 

     “Perhaps you think that, when you were converted you lost your old selves altogether.
      I can assure you that you did not: the hasty temper, the sluggish constitution, the
     gloomy tendency, or the fickle humour, will be there as long as you are here. You
     received a new self, and a better self, but the old self is there still. Your mother will be
     able to recognize you, she will know that it is the same John, or the same Mary, for
     your foibles and weaknesses will crop up. You must keep watch.” Charles Spurgeon 

Yes, we must keep watch, and be diligent because “character is not forged with a single event.” Character is developed over time. Peter had to go through as he suffered beatings and infractions before he developed the character that would never deny Jesus again as he had, 3 times, in the courtyard. (Matthew 26:75)

Perhaps you wonder why you keep going through, why so many challenges, why it seems you are always having to prove yourself to people? We may not be able to see it now but the Lord is building character in us through our hardship, if we will let him. 

     Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral
     excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge,
     self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance,
     godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness,
     love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither
     useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:5–8)

The Lord will remind us that what we are facing is not about us, not to take it personally, and to keep our eyes on Him. Stop, listen, whatever it is that we are facing today will serve to build our character. The man who denied Jesus 3 times became a leader among the disciples because he had learned restraint from denying himself through his hardships.

GiGi❤️

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