MORNING MANNA         2/29/20

One of the most important lessons we can learn is that being comes before doing. We hear a lot about doing things for Christ, but very little about being like Christ. We don’t seem to understand that conduct is one thing and character is another. Character is what you are and conduct is what you do. And the only way for both our attitude and actions to be appropriate is if our character is such as it should be. You can control a man’s behavior by the threat of punishment or the promise of reward, but that doesn’t mean he has character. And what you are is more important than what you do. Being is more important than behavior, beauty, or bounty. Character counts!

To succeed in living as we should — being “holy and without blame before him in love” ( Eph. 1:4) — our character must be what it ought to be – like Jesus. I love the little chorus “To Be Like Jesus”, but it takes more than singing to conform to His image. In fact, being like Jesus involves more than singing, serving, submitting to a list of rules, or seeking to imitate Jesus. To be conformed to the image of Christ we must yield ourselves to the control of the Holy Spirit who effects the change ( 2 Cor. 3:18). If you are a true believer you have a new nature and the potential for Christlikeness, but you must appropriate what God has made available to become the person He purposed you to be. – HDS
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346