It is a fun project to rank yourself on each of these 26 character traits. Go down through the list thinking about each one, thinking about yourself and how you act, and then give yourself a 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5, 1 being bad and five being good. On the traits that you gave yourself a one on, write out a strategy of how you are going to change and bring them up to a 2.

Another way to do the personal evaluation is to rank the character traits in your life.Take the 26 character traits and put the one you think you are strongest in at the top and the one you are weakest in at the bottom and all the rest somewhere in between. Work on growing stronger in just the bottom one, write out your personal strategy of how to do better in that one and then you can move on to the next on the list and work on it.

1. Honesty/truthful/Transparent/real
2. Patience
3. Thoughtful/Gentle/Gracious
4. Deference
5. Humility
6. Diligence
7. Self-control
8. Determination/endurance
9. Honoring of others/free from a critical spirit
10. Orderliness
11. Joyfulness
12. Contentment
13. Decisiveness
14. Faithful/trustworthy/reliable
15. Morally pure
16. Teachable/seeker of wisdom/discernment
17. Forgiveness/ free from all bitterness
18. Thriftiness/ good stewardship of money and possessions
19. Flexible
20. Initiative
21. Gratefulness/positive
22. Loyalty
23. Resourcefulness/creative
24. Boldness/confidence/ strong sense of self-worth
25. Toughness/grit/strong/handles pain
26. Peace/calm/not easily flustered

Growing to be like Jesus in character is of utmost importance because what we are in character when we die is what we are for ever and ever. You don’t want to be a baby in character when you enter heaven. So discovering principles of optimum growth is super important. A significant principle is that I grow much faster with help than I do by myself, and the most effective help in my life is Patty. God invented marriage as the most powerful tool in his arsenal to cause growth to happen in people. But our pride has the power to completely undo or block all the positive influence that our spouse has in moving us to Christ-Like character. It is impossible to overstate all the negative influence that our pride has on our changing and growing into the image of Jesus Christ. It is easy to determine when our pride is intervening in our pursuit of Christ-like character, we have conflict. Whenever there is conflict there is pride in at least one partner but most often in both, just manifested differently. Those who are serious about growth will do a bunch of self-examination to figure out what happened and how to fix it. A man and a woman living together, raising kids together, managing a house together, managing money together, planning their future together, and working at doing all that in unity will grow very rapidly to be like Jesus in character, that is God’s plan.

I am restoring a 1969 mustang with my grandson. When we bought it a couple of years ago, it was a total junker, everything needed to be fixed or replaced. When I go out in my shop to work on it now I have my choice; I can work on the headliner, I can finish putting in the parking brake cables, I can clean and refurbish all the gauges, I can put in the fuel line, I can install the back bumper and valence then install the backup lights, I have all the electrical to do, rebuild the door latches and window cranks, and on the list goes. When it is all finished, it will be a nice car.

I am a total junker, a 1948 junker, everything needs fixed or replaced, and the goal is that I would become like Jesus. I need my self-control to become much stronger, my pride to change to humility, and my patience to increase a lot so that I am not constantly fighting irritation. I need to become much more in control of my time so that I spend my time on important things that have significant eternal results instead of so much playing.

There are 26 character traits that I have identified in the Bible that I need to grow in. My desire is that I become like Jesus in each one of them. Using these various character traits breaks up my pursuit of Christ-like character into pieces that I can attack and can have success in. Some of the things that need done on the car are almost done, but others are just getting started. I have a picture of a 1969 mustang just like ours all finished. It looks beautiful and those who own it are asking $69,000 for it. Wow, whooooeeeeee!

In my life there are areas that I am doing good in, I have grown a lot in becoming like Jesus, but in other areas, I have a lot of work yet to accomplish. As I get up each day I can take my choice on what I am going to work on. It is nice to have a variety of things so that I don’t get bored pursuing the character of Christ, that would be bad.

Right now I am reading about and studying humility and pride in the Bible and in some books that I purchased. I want to conquer all pride in my life and walk with my God in total humility. My, oh my, talk about a junker and a long way to go, this is a major project for sure.

As we pro-actively pursue the character of Christ He will give us the power, the resources, the wisdom, the encouragement, everything we need to grow and change. He wants it in me more than I do and He will mold me like a piece of clay into the image of Jesus as I submit to Him.

I am pretty sure that Isaac and I will finish the mustang before God is finished with me.

I had a great day of fishing on the Siletz river for steelhead. The weather was perfect, a little cold but not bad. We saw zero other boats, so there was no competition. I went with a good friend so the fellowship was sweet. I caught a hatchery fish, a nice fat one that I brought home, and also a wild fish which we released. I also had two other fish on that got off after a few minutes of fighting. My good friend had about exactly the same results except his wild fish was approximately 20 lbs by measurement, 21 inches girth and 38 inches long. It was a very nice steelhead.

Fishing is one of my favorite things to do because of how refreshed, rejuvenated, and re-energized I feel after a day like today. If I could do this once every couple of weeks I probably would live to be 150 years old.

Being outdoors, on the the river, also has a significant impact on my spiritual life. I feel closer to God, my faith in Him seems to be markedly increased, and my sense of His presence grows.

Romans 1:19-20 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.

I watched an NFL playoff game this afternoon between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills. It was one of the most exciting 4th quarter of foootball that I have ever seen. The lead changed hands three times in the last two minutes. Patrick Mahomes got the ball back on the 25-yard line with 13 seconds left, the Chiefs were behind, but they went on to win the game. It was back and forth, back and forth, it was crazy.

I thought to myself, the only way this kind of ending can happen is if neither team gives up, not even a little bit. Lots of people in their own life go by the statistics and probability and give up when if some effort was given things could have been different.

This is a really short blog, but I am going steehead fishing tomorrow on the Siletz River and have to get up at 4:00 am.

First Sherri got it, then Thomas, and now Patty. So far I am fine. Sherry and Thomas’s experience was like a bad cold, and Patty’s as well. Mostly just congestion and sore throat, and feeling a bit wimpy. Several years ago I built a sauna on our back porch after reading that it was beneficial to those with Parkinson’s. It is about six feet square lined with cedars boards and a bench. There is a heater on the wall with a bunch of rocks stacked up on top of the heater. When the rocks get hot ladeling, a dash of water every few minutes fills the room with steam. Only takes about ten minutes and you are sweating like a horse. I don’t know for sure because I never got tested, but I think I may have gotten COVID a couple of months ago. I was feeling weird so I sat in my sauna on high, making lots of steam, for 40 minutes. When I got out I took some melatonin and slept for ten hours. When I got up I felt fine. So I talked Patty into sitting in it tonight. She only lasted about 15 minutes before she bailed. We will see how she is feeling in the morning.

Reading through our church prayer letter, there are people with brain tumors, bone cancer, prostate cancer, skin cancer, kidney cancer, diabetes, strokes, heart attacks, COVID, and a variety of other ailments. About ten years ago I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and a couple of years later my bladder quit working so I have to self-catheterize three times every day. I am wondering what will be the next body part to quit working. Growing up, there were colds, the flu, chickenpox, measles, sprained ankles, blisters, maybe even some broken bones or appendicitis.

Most people learn to live life with ailments and expect more to be on the way without getting all tied up in knots. That is just the way it is, always has been and always will be until Jesus comes and then sickness, weakness, and death are over forever. Sickness is God’ tool to keep us focused on heaven instead of this life.

As I push myself to grow a little bit every day, I know that a key character trait is self-discipline. As my self-discipline grows in me so does everything else. Even though it isn’t measurable a high priority goal that I have is to grow steadily in self-discipline. My strategy to grow in self-discipline is filled with measurable goals that I am pursuing diligently.

1. In Galatians 5:22-23 are listed what are called the fruit of the Holy Spirit. There are nine of them and they are all character traits, so obviously these nine are high priority with God. The last of the nine is self-control. So every morning, in my prayer of commitment, I declare to God that I am pursuing self-control and would He please help me. I then quote Galatians 5:22-23, so I know that the Holy Spirit will grant me all the power I need to grow strong in the character trait of conquering my flesh with its passions and desires.

2. Daily doing disciplines that my flesh hates is a key to training myself and acquiring the character trait of self-discipline. I will read my Bible every day, I will memorize and review Bible verses every day, I will spend time with God in prayer every day, I will write my blog every day, and I will exercise every day. All of those daily disciplines have many rewards and blessings, but a common blessing is growing self-control.

3. The book of James in the New Testament says that if we can control our tongue that we can control our entire life. So I will not speak any unwholesome words to anybody. I will not grumble or complain about anything. I will not gossip or slander anybody. And I will rejoice always.

4. The strongest urge that my flesh has is gluttony so controlling my eating is essential to my quest for self-discipline. I will continue to eliminate sugar and flour from my diet as much as possible. I will maintain a routine of fasting that I have established for myself, and I will reach and maintain my weight at 188 lbs.

1 Corinthians 9:25-27
Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

I am not the smartest person in the world. I get emotional over stupid things. I eat the wrong foods. I don’t sleep enough. I procrastinate and I waste time. I care too much about meaningless things and not enough about important things. My ego is too big, my humility way to small. I have more character flaws and weaknesses than I can name. But I am not stuck here.

I am examining my life. I am confessing all known sin to God. I am praying everyday asking God for help, wisdom, and strength. I am fighting. I’m always fighting. I’m struggling and I’m scraping and kicking and clawing at those weaknesses—to change them. To stop them. Some days I win. But some days I don’t. But I fight with everything I’ve got: To overcome those weaknesses and those shortfalls and those flaws as I strive to be just a little bit better today than I was yesterday, every day just a little bit better, a little more like Jesus.

Matthew 17:20 And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.

This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. There is something very motivating about the phrase, “nothing will be impossible to you.” I try to live, write goals, think, and talk like it is true for me, nothing is impossible.

We are admonished by God’s Word to seek for wisdom like gold and we are encouraged to pray and ask God for wisdom. Wisdom deals with reality, circumstances and situations in real life helping us to solve problems and overcome obstacles. A puzzling truth is that faith, no matter how strong will change reality. A reality is that I am going to die unless the rapture comes first. No amount of faith is going to keep me alive forever, probably not even until I am 100. The date of my death is set in stone, so no sense in me praying to live past that date. The date Jesus is coming back to take us to heaven is set in stone, and on my best day of having faith, I am not going to move it closer. I am a male, and though the world is big into trying to change reality, I am a male.

The three realities that I mentioned are obvious, but there are many more things in life that are realities that God didn’t intend for us to try and change even with great faith. Getting older is a reality. I am trying hard to keep old age at bay, but every 365 days another birthday rolls around. With every birthday the reality is things change, and so using wisdom I am working at adjusting and compensating so as to maximize what I still have to offer to God as His servant.

Sometimes I groan and complain about the changes that at one time were encroaching slowly but now seem to be accelerating rapidly. So my new self-talk slogan is, “enjoy the ride, enjoy the journey, keep learning, keep growing, make adjustments with wisdom not resignation , and bear as much fruit as is possible.”

I love competition. I compete with anybody about anything. If you compare into competition you know that if you are going to consistently win you have to be smart. I compete with people on scripture memory, with Bible reading, weight loss, you name it. Whenever I compete with one person or many I always do better, because I am more motivated, there is something inside of me that hates to lose.