Primary Purpose Week #5: Cultivating Character 7.18&19.09
Primary Purpose (Making it Hard for People to go to Hell) — 7.18&19.09
Week 5: Cultivating Character
Purpose: To help students realize the importance of character and integrity in their Christian Walk!
Main Ideas:
- Many people don’t have a problem with the gospel, but with the character of the individuals proclaiming it.
- We have to earn the right to be heard because of our personal character
- If non-believers don’t respect you, they are not going to listen to you.
- Our character can be a deciding factor in somebody else’s salvation
- Live by this motto: There is no such thing as a secret!
- None of us live independent lives, our decisions affect others.
- Being consumed with God’s vision leaves no time for distraction
- Thoughts precede words and words precede actions
- God’s Word gives us a standard for genuine character
Scripture:
- Philippians 4:8 – Think on these things (Importance of thought life and character)
- Romans 12:2 – Be transformed by the renewing of your mind
- Romans 8:5-7 – Having your mind set on spiritual things vs. natural things
- I Thess. 4:11-12 – Live a life so you can win the respect of outsiders
Questions:
- Have you ever been turned off to Christianity because of somebody else’s character?
- Do you think respect and trust are earned? Or should it just be given?
- What do you think of the motto “There is no such thing as a secret” when it comes to the way you live your life?
- What are the hardest character issues you find facing teenagers in today’s culture?
- How can you combat them?
- How do you establish standards in your life? How to you sustain them?
Things to Remember:
- Cedar Point this Tuesday – Get your waivers in! Meet at the youth center at 6 a.m.!
Chapter 13 – Cultivating Character
- Many who reject the gospel don’t have a problem with the gospel, but with the character of the individuals proclaiming it.
- We must earn the right to be heard because of our personal character.
- I Thess. 4:11-12 – Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.
- If non believers don’t respect you, they are not going to listen to you. You earn respect through the character you live out everyday.
- Our character can be a deciding factor in somebody else’s salvation.
- Character: Not doing privately what we would be ashamed of publically.
- Live by this motto: “There is no such thing as a secret”
- As soon as we believe we can think, say, or do secret things, there is a greater opportunity for the enemy to persuade us to violate God’s word.
- None of us live an independent life. Our decisions affect others…Live a lifestyle that protects people’s hearts
- The places we choose to go and the places we avoid have direct spiritual significance. Let your purpose in Christ determine where you go.
- Being consumed with God’s vision leaves no time for distraction
- Thoughts precede words and words precede actions. If a person violates scriptural principles in his thought life, very soon his actions will reflect it.
- We need to discipline our thoughts according to the biblical standard. That’s why good books are better than bad books and good movies better than bad movies.
- Phil. 4:8 – Think on these things
- Romans 12:2 – Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
- Romans 8:5-7 – Mind set on spiritual things vs. mind set on natural things
- Word os God keeps mankind from believing he is his own god. If our own opinions, thoughts, or conclusions are our highest authority, we are in serious trouble.
- God’s Word gives us a standard for genuine character.
- Ephesians 4:27 – “give no place to the devil”… Faults in character will give the devil a “place” in your life that he will use to destroy your ability to fulfill your primary purpose.
- There is no such thing as a secret.