The Story
Meet Matt. Meet Anna. They are the heroes of our story. You and I are going to watch them walk through life that is necessary for developing character. Matt is tall and lean, in his mid-twenties, and making his way through life as a post-college graduate. Anna is a bit shorter than Matt, full of sparkle, and is a joy to be around. Both are well-liked among their family and friends. Right now, they don’t know each other. But that could change.
Matt and Anna go through a lot in this book. Your job throughout this entire process is to put yourself in their shoes. Try and evaluate what it would be like to be in their situations and learn from them. This is like being in a simulator. You will get to fake the experience without needing to undergo the true feelings or hardships. Do your best to imagine yourself in these scenarios and relate to what is happening in them. If you can do this, you will learn from their mistakes. You will learn how to build your own character.
Love Matt. Love Anna.
The Set Up
The only thing from this life that you will take with you into eternity is your character. It’s plain and simple. You can build massive wealth, drive a fancy car, have the most amazing husband or wife, but when you leave this world the only thing you take with you is your mental and moral distinctions that make you, you. This is your character. Your character dwells within your spirit. The spirit is the only eternal part of our being. Our privilege under the sun is to do our best to make our character look more and more like Jesus. This is a great privilege indeed!
Romans 5 instructs us that it is through our suffering [trials] that produces perseverance then character then hope. Both Matt and Anna walk through many trials. These events can be dramatic and they each lead toward something greater. They are initiators of change in their lives.
Jesus said that you can know a tree by its fruit. Jesus often spoke of trees and gardening. As we think about it, this comparison is brilliant. Consider that a fruit tree 2000 years ago is still a fruit tree today. Jesus could look into the future with his metaphors and realize what was lasting and what was temporary. Imagine Jesus saying you can know an iPhone by its latest software release. Thirty years from now you will probably need to visit the Smithsonian to see an iPhone. Its ability to be relatable would have been lost due to the passing of time and irrelevancy.
Character is a lot like fruit. The fruit of the tree marks the type of tree that it is. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control [Galatians 5:22-23]. Together these embody the full picture of character. If you master each of them then I believe you are as close to being like Jesus as possible.
The question that you need to answer is what type of tree are you going to be? As an example, consider both the Christmas tree and the fruit tree. The Christmas tree, while beautifully adorned, is ultimately a dead tree. Yes, it is festive and it signifies a certain meaning, but ultimately it is unproductive. Everyone throws out their Christmas tree after the holiday is over.
A fruit tree, quite conversely, bears fruit in season, season after season. It is living and because so, it continues day after day. We benefit from a fruit tree in ways that we cannot benefit from a Christmas tree. There is quite a difference.
So, the question is what type of tree do you want to be? Quite obviously, the answer I am hoping you will choose is you would like to be a fruit tree. Throughout this journey, we will do our best to unpack how to integrate the fruit of the Spirit into our lives.
Most devotions, and the ones contained in this book, are intended to be short thoughts to motivate you for a few minutes so that your day begins well. These are not true Bible studies. They would certainly lend themselves to a future study, however.
I recommend reading one of these devotions each morning to set the course of your day in motion. I write morning because reading devotions at night may not benefit you the most. God intentionally created us to live morning to evening. We wake to the day ahead and close the day in both rest from this day and in preparation for the next.
The main objective of growing your character is to love people better; to build them up. You will find that love in this book could easily be replaced with words like humility and selfless service to others. Why am I telling you what I want you to take from this book before you even crack the pages of week one? The answer is simple. You need to know your objective before you entertain character development. If you don’t, you will leak, fizzle, and tire. When you keep the objective of loving people in your aim you will maximize your results.
Each devotion is broken into four sections. These are intentionally laid out this way. The first section is called The Story. This is where you live life with Matt and Anna who encounter that day’s theme. Next, you will read the The Devotion. This section is the black and white, here’s-how-it-is part of the book. I attempt to cut right to the heart of the matter. The next section is the most important. In The Bible, you will hear the very words of God for that day’s theme. You will need your Bible, an app, or some other way of getting to the chapters recommended. It is intentionally last because you’ll be prepared to hear what the Bible has to say about the topic now that you’ve considered the theme for a few minutes. The final section is The Prayer. You will have an opportunity every day to say a prayer that relates directly to the devotion. It’s important that you take the prayer for yourself and say it to the Lord. This is your prayer now.
Each day of the week has its own theme. You will rotate through this list three different times as you progress through this challenge. The weekly themes are:
DAY ONE: People
DAY TWO: Theology
DAY THREE: Bible
DAY FOUR: Prayer
DAY FIVE: Words
DAY SIX: Holy Spirit
DAY SEVEN: Marriage and Family
This entire book can be summed up like this: Love God, love others. Jesus said in Matthew that the entire law can be summed up in that single prescription [Mark 12:30-31]. If you open your life up to Scripture and believe that it is God-breathed, these thoughts, that are grounded in Scripture, will matter. The Bible is a manual for living. This is the only way that God, who designed our lives, has said life works best.
This is not the all-encompassing method for perfecting your eternal character. I wish it were! Rather, this is an excellent catalyst for change in your life. It will cause Spiritual momentum to form within you.
Share these devotions with friends. Talk about what God is teaching you. I believe that countless people coming into a greater knowledge of Christ Jesus is a good thing. To God be the glory!
I would be remiss if I didn’t pray for you before we begin.
The Prayer
“Dear Lord Jesus, I thank You for my fellow servant in Christ. I pray that you would let your Spirit rest on them as they read Your Word and these devotions. May the application they assume be transformative for many years to come. May these 21 days act as a catalyst for strong Spiritual growth and momentum. I thank You that You have the best laid plans for Your people. I bless them now. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
Now, onto the many devotions you were promised.
Blessings,
-Micah Brooks
