God: "I looked for someone to take a stand for me, and stand in the gap" (Ezekiel 22:30)
We tend to believe we are Christians because…our parents are Christians. We believe God exists. We faithfully attend church and youth meetings. We pray. We read and know much about the Bible. We prayed the “sinner’s prayer” or went forward during an altar call. We were baptized. We sing hymns and worship songs. We listen to Christian music. We are basically good, moral people, especially compared to the world. We attend a Christian school or Christian college.
Godlike character is both the fruit of the Spirit as He works within us and the result of our personal efforts. We are both totally dependent upon His working within us and totally responsible for our own character development. This is an apparent contradiction to our either-or type of thinking, but it is a truth taught over and over in the Scriptures.
