Apprentice 2 Jesus

An Anglicostal Connecting to a Real World

Building character

Dan

There are some practices we can install into our lives that build deep character. It’s beyond the quick dopamine hits we get from short videos or quick hits on social media.

This is the deeper work we need to rebuild in our lives.

A few years ago, a University of Pennsylvania psychologist, Angela Duckworth, got a bit more specific. She wrote that character formation means building up three types of strengths: strengths of the heart (being kind, considerate, generous), strengths of the mind (being curious, open-minded, having good judgment) and strengths of the will (self-control, determination, courage).

Read on HERE.

One area I am challenging myself in this year: deep reading.

I am taking myself off of GoodReads because that Book Challenge thing drives me crazy. I feel short of my “goal” last year and I was okay with it… until I see others posting the crazy goals they met. That voice needs to be shut down in my life.

My goal this year is to keep a list in my notes and if something stands out about the book, I will note it briefly. Also, when I am wanting to truly dig in, I pull out a little notebook I keep with the book, such as I am doing currently with Bonhoeffer’s Letters and Papers from Prison. When I am finished with the book, I will keep the notebook with the book.

I need the slower pace and deeper thought.

Not to say I won’t enjoy myself along the way. I will still utilize audible for fiction and fast reads I still love.

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2 responses to “Building character”

  1. Majik Avatar
    Majik

    This morning before reading anything here in cyberspace, I read Psalms 1, 2, and 3.

    Then in the journal that I’m keeping, I wrote . . .

    “Blessed is the man . . . “

    Have I been that man?

    Sometimes yes. Sometimes not.

    But yesterday is gone whether for good or not.

    Today, by Your Grace, Lord Jesus, make me that man.

    By Your Grace . . . I am that man.

    Love, me

    Then the first thing that I read on this internet that I’m trying to stay off of as much as I can was your post, and then the thing that David Brooks wrote that you had linked to your post, and now I’m writing this comment instead of just “like”-ing it. I’m writing now instead of just saying, “Hmm,” and walking away because I’m trying to meditate a little more on Psalm 1’s words:

    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. But his delight is in the Law of the LORD, and on His Law, he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted beside streams of water that brings forth its fruit in its season, and whose leaf does not wither, and whatever he does shall prosper. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff, which the wind drives away. Therefore, the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked shall perish.

    I’m trying right now to be “that man,” the man He made me to be, the man that in my heart of hearts I most want to be.

    Thank you, Brother, for being part of the process . . . part of the journey . . .

    part of the long walk Home.

    Reply
    1. Dan Avatar
      Dan

      Thanks so much

      Reply

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