Proven Character
It has been said that our character is who we are and what we do when no one is around to see what we are doing. Our character is who we are deep down inside, not the outward show that some people put on to impress others. Character is either strong or weak, and it either becomes stronger over time, or it deteriorates over time. As Christians, our goal should be to have the character of Christ developed in us over time, so that others see Jesus is us by what we say and do.
God knew that the Israelites needed to grow a lot when He brought them out of Egypt. He tried to strengthen them, so they could be strong enough to take over the Promised Land, but they would not listen. It took 40 years in the wilderness to get them to that point. (Deuteronomy 8:2) Moses told them after that to remember how God had led them through the wilderness for those 40 years, humbling them and testing them to prove their character, and to find out if they would keep His commands or not. That is what God has to do for all of us.
I know that all of us have had things happen to us that humbled us. This happened when we failed to do something that we should have been able to do, but we were not strong enough. It happened when we did something that we should not have done, and we were ashamed of ourselves, too. These experiences either make us depend on God more, or we keep failing. If we depend on God our character gets better. That is why God allows those things to happen to us.
Also, God sends tests for us. Those are also times when we need to depend on God and do what we know we should do. If we pass those tests our character gets stronger and stronger. Our character is proven to be what it should be over time, and it is seen mostly when times are hard, not in the good times. So, I would encourage all of us to be honest and see if we are able to keep God's commands better today than 10 or 20 years ago. If not, we have a character problem, and God will have to humble us and test us more to get us where we need to be.
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Tomorrow, I intend to read Deuteronomy 9-11.