Have you ever been on a diet? You tell yourself you’re not going to go by that bakery with all the wonderful smells of bread and pastries. Then, two days later, you think, ‘oh, those smells won’t bother me, they won’t deter me from my diet.’

Then before you know it, you stop inside the bakery just to see the latest creation of pasties and you’re ordering a donut to go.

That’s how sin works. It slowly sneaks into your daily routine that you don’t even realize it’s there. And before you know it, you’re sinning; you’re doing what you promised yourself you wouldn’t do.

If you want to live a Godly life, then you’ll need to separate yourself from ungodly influences. Don’t let worldly pleasures dominate Godly principles.

Your character defines your influence. Our character is influenced and developed by our choices.

God sometimes uses trials to strengthen character. Others especially watch Christians when they’re going through trials.

Set a good example for others to follow and your Godly reputation will be evident to all.

Make your Godly influence be evident to others.

Psalm 1:1 - “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;”

Are you a person of integrity? Do others trust your opinions? If you say you’ll show up at a certain time, do you?

I’ve spoken about this before and the Bible has many examples of men and women of integrity. Integrity is “the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles.”

Proverbs 25:14 - “Like clouds and wind without rain is one who boasts of gifts never given.”

The qualities of someone with integrity are: honesty, good character, fairness, sincerity in their speech and being trustworthy.

Do you keep the promises you make, or are they just words? Are you a good steward of your money, or do you buy things because you think you deserve them?

Do you pay your bills on time, or are bill collectors calling you? Are you talking about others behind their back, or do you refuse to listen to gossip?

Are you a faithful employee and do you do your best at work? Do you act one way on Sunday morning, but totally different on any other day?

Stay true to your word. Ask God to help you in this area if you’re struggling.

Be a person of integrity. God will bless you for it!

If you don’t regularly work your body muscles, they will eventually atrophy and be worthless.

So it is with faith. If your faith is not stretched, tested and strained, then it will not grow.

Matthew 5:11-12 - “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

If you want to be more Christ-like, you’re going to have to go through the things that Jesus did. Did you know that while Jesus lived on earth, He experienced stress, loneliness, discouragement and temptation?

If you don’t have opposition in your life, your faith is not growing. God will bless anyone who is persecuted in His name.

Share your faith. Tell others the great things God has brought you through. Put a ‘faith’ workout in your daily routine. Stretch beyond what you think you’re capable of.

Ask God to help you maintain your faith muscles!

Do you know someone or live with someone who, on occasion can just irritate you with the tiniest quirk?

How’s your patience with them?

How about showing mercy and compassion to these people. Odds are, these are hurting people. And, more than that, they may not be aware that it irritates you.

Maybe it’s someone that offends you? Be intentional in showing kindness to them. It may even make them realize they’re wrong in what they’re doing.

Ask God for the courage to be merciful in these situations. Ask Him to give you the strength to step out in faith and do premeditated acts of mercy.

Nobody is perfect. We all make mistakes. We all have little quirks or idiosyncrasies. God’s mercy is bigger than any mistake you’ve ever made.

Extend grace.

Matthew 5:48 - “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

I don’t know about you, but I like to avoid the valleys of life; times that are troubling and stressful.

I’ve had my fair share of trying times, but I have found that I have always grown as a Christian during those times. I’ve learned lessons that I don’t think I would have learned otherwise.

There are several stories in the Bible about people turning their trials over to God and God coming through for them.

We can all learn from history. This also means that we learn from our own story.

God doesn’t promise to keep us out of all trouble. He does promise to be there with us.

Life is always good on the mountaintops of celebration. But not matter how much we’d like to spend our lives up there, we need to walk through the valleys of challenges too.

Ask God to teach you as He walks along with you in the valleys of life.

1 Peter 5:7 - “casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”

If you are a Christian and you have given your life to Christ, then you can’t help but love others. God gives you the gift of the Holy Spirit. God places in you a love for others. He purposely gives you compassion in your heart.

He will allow you to see others through His eyes!

Isaiah 50:4 - “The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.”

My heart breaks when I see someone mistreated. It’s only human to want to lash out and say something hurtful to the accuser.

I’ve found that the best thing to do in these situations is to quietly say, “God, I can’t say anything good right now, so I’m giving this to You to handle.”

God knows my heart. I can love someone, but not approve of the way they treat others.

Ask God to “take over.” As Him to fill you with love and compassion.

Ask Him to see things through His eyes!

It’s easy to let worry overwhelm you. Believe me, I do it all the time. But, I have found that if I purposely replace my worry with a Christian song, my worry lessens and I’m suddenly thinking of the melody instead.

1 Peter 3:14-15 - “But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,”

Christianity is not for wimps. In order to follow Jesus, we have to be brave and ready to defend Him.

Granted, we don’t face persecution like some do in oppressive countries, but we do face people who have no respect for our belief in Christ and those who don’t believe that He even exists.

Do you panic when faced with a confrontation of your beliefs or do you silently pray and ask God to give you the words to say?

As it says in the Bible, if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it.

When faced with pressure about your faith, don’t worry, but worship; don’t panic, but pray.

Focus on God!

People are motivated by two things: They’re motivated by principle and pleasure, or they are motivated by pain.

We create our own jail cells, where bars are made of anger, bitterness, resentment and grudges.

What’s the key to all of this? Forgiveness. It’s your choice. Do you want to stay where you are, in misery, or do you want to be free of this state of mind?

When we’re hurting it’s only human to want to blame someone else.

Quit running away from it. Face the fear. Forgive. Once you forgive you’re given the opportunity to live an amazing life of grace, freedom and purpose.

Forgiveness is a process. The pure act of forgiving benefits your emotional and physical health. Forgiving someone is not something that you just wake up and decide to do because someone said you should do so.

Forgiveness is a freeing, wonderful feeling once you’ve done it.

Get motivated. Do you have someone you need to forgive? Ask God for the motivation to do it.

Ephesians 4:32 - “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”