Everyday life provides the battlefields on which our character (see Character… What Everyday Life Says About Us – Part I) wins or loses. The mundane moments expose our character far more than we realize.
Paul David Tripp calls them “10,000 Little Moments”:
The little moments of life are profoundly important precisely because they are the little moments that we live in and that form us. This is where I think “Big Drama Christianity” gets us into trouble. It can cause us to devalue the significance of the little moments of life and the “small-change” grace that meets us there. And because we devalue the little moments where we live, we don’t tend to notice the sin that gets exposed there. We fail to seek the grace that is offered to us. It’s the 10,000 Little Moments. You see, the character of a life is not set in two or three dramatic moments, but in 10,000 little moments. The character that was formed in those little moments is what shapes how you respond to the big moments of life…Getting it wrong is not about the big, dramatic, consequential moments of life. No, getting it wrong is much more about the little mundane moments of everyday life.
We want to look like Christ in the 10,000 little moments don’t we? Not only for those watching us as a leaders but for the little eyes that live with us? Do others see these characteristic in our 10,000 little moments?
Last week, we looked at four character traits to consider their presence or absence in our daily lives. Here are five more:
- Authenticity – Am I the same person in everyday life as I am at church? Am I consistent? Do I demonstrate consistency in business dealings or at the ball field or how I treat strangers?
- Responsibility – Do I follow through on my commitments? Have I deservedly earned the reputation that I won’t follow through on projects or promises?
- Kindness, Compassion – Do I speak with courtesy and gentleness to others? Do I notice those who are “the least of these” and make an effort acknowledge them? “Character is how you treat those who can do nothing for you.”
- Self-Control – Am I known to be out of control emotionally? Do I control my tongue? Do I pop off in anger or rage?
- Trustworthiness – Can I be counted on to keep a confidence? Can I resist the temptation to whisper that “delicious morsel”? (See Prov. 18:8)
Here’s some good news–with active, intentional pursuit our character can grow and be transformed. In fact it is the fruit of maturity. In cooperation with the Spirit’s work the selfish can learn to give, the lazy can become diligent and the dishonest can learn truthfulness.
For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. —2 Peter 1:5-8
Published May 28, 2014
