Maintaining character

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. – Romans 12:2

News reporting is a tough business that tends to make reporters hard and unfeeling. That’s what Barbara Bradley, a correspondent for National Public Radio, tells aspiring journalists. But she also believes it doesn’t have to be that way. "I made a strategic decision when I first fell in love with journalism," Bradley says, "that if I found myself beginning to get tough I would leave the business. It’s just a career, and why mortgage your character for a career? Maintaining your character counts for something and you can do it; it’s just a decision you have to make."

In every high-pressure situation, we can react like most people or we can choose to be different. J. B. Phillips translates Romans 12:2 this way: "Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God remold your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all His demands, and moves toward the goal of true maturity" (The New Testament in Modern English).

When we feel pressure to conform, character can stand firm on the bedrock of conviction, saying, "This is God’s way and it is best." Maintaining our character begins and continues with a decision. Let’s make it today. – David C. McCasland

O Lord, You see what’s in my heart –

There’s nothing hid from You;

So help me live the kind of life

That’s loving, kind, and true. – D. De Haan

READ: Romans 12:1-21

Beautiful character begins in the heart.

The Bible in one year:

• 2 Samuel 6-8

• Luke 15:1-10