Perfect toward Him

Perfect toward Him

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

…I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.

Psalm 101:2, NKJV.

TODAY’S WORD

This time of year, people often take time to reflect and set goals for the New Year. But have you ever set “perfection” as a goal on your list?

Now, that may seem a little strange or unobtainable to many; but really, in God’s eyes, perfection isn’t about performance. In fact, it isn’t about behavior at all. What God is looking for is a heart that is perfect toward Him. Scripture says that man looks on the outside, but God looks at the heart. That means He is more pleased with someone who has a heart toward Him who may mess up than He is with someone doing all the right things for all the wrong reasons.

The condition of your heart is extremely important to God. When you have a right heart, you are humble before Him. You seek His ways. You get up each day with a desire to please Him. You submit every area of your life to Him, and you are willing to make adjustments and receive correction so you can grow and come up higher.

As you prepare for the coming year, make knowing Him your number one priority. Yield yourself to Him and let Him shape your character. Serve Him with all your might and let your heart be perfect toward Him!

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Father in heaven, thank You for all of Your blessings in my life. I declare today that You are good and thank You for Your mercy. I set my heart and mind on You and ask that You have Your way in me. Help me to love You perfectly and keep me close to You in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

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Establish Habits for Spiritual Growth 6 hours ago  Rick Warren “So we continue to preach Christ to each person, using all wisdom to warn and to teach everyone, in order to bring each one into God's presence as a mature person in Christ.” (Colossians 1:28 NCV) The most practical and powerful way to get believers headed in the direction of spiritual maturity is to help them establish habits that promote spiritual growth. You cannot talk about character without talking about habits. Character is the way you habitually act. For example, if you are honest only part of the time, or if you are honest only when you consciously choose to be honest, you cannot claim to have the character quality of integrity. Having integrity means you are always honest. It is your habit. You don’t even have to think about it. When someone asks you a question or gives you back too much change, you habitually do the honest thing. Of course, there are dozens of good habits we need to develop as we grow to maturity. But the foundational habits must be learned first in order to grow. So, what are the minimum requirements? What are the core habits that will give birth to all the others? They are the habits that influence our time, our money, and our relationships. If Christ’s lordship is recognized over these three areas of life, then he will truly be in control. I believe there are five measurements of spiritual growth: knowledge, perspective, conviction, skills, and character. Once you understand the what, why, when, and how of the five measurements, you can take the next practical steps to starting and maintain habits that will lead to spiritual maturity. Talk About It What are the three character traits that you think people would be most likely to use to describe you? If you did a quick assessment of your life, would you say that Christ has control in the areas of your time, money, and relationships?