Dangerous Decisions

So recently I picked up this little booklet which is an excerpt from "Defining Moments: When Choices Matter Most". The booklet, written by Dan Schaeffer, who is previously unknown to me, makes some excellent points about how we go through life, seemingly unaware of all of the small, and large, choices that will have significant impact on the rest of our lives.

While reading the booklet, he quoted something quite profound, and I immediately knew I wanted to share it here. It's a quote by Senator Dan Coates, in a reader's digest from 1996.

"Character cannot be summoned at the moment of crisis if it has been squandered by years of compromise and rationalization. The only testing ground for the heroic, is the mundane. The only preparation for that one profound decision which can change a life, or even a nation, is those hundreds of half-conscious, self defining, seemingly insignificant decisions made in private. HABIT is the daily battleground of Character" 

Hmm... Habit is the daily battleground of Character. Isn't that something to chew on.

What are your daily habits, and how are they affecting your character? For me these questions include how do I spend my time, what do I choose to allow into the windows of my soul (eyes, ears)? Who do I spend my time with? What do we discuss when we are together? How does this make me a better person? Am I spending too much time in a particular area of my life? How do I overcome this insane desire to do everything my way?

Of course, one could go crazy asking all of these questions, so I really don't recommend sitting there wasting away your day with it. But a good, honest, assessment of daily life would be beneficial to my character. Basically what I would equate as a 'character checkup'.

Can I encourage you today friends, to perform a "character checkup"? Ask yourself if you've earnestly been seeking the things of God? Or have you been squandering your years with compromise and rationalization? And what do you plan to do about it, Today?