When the weather-man tells us that it’s partly cloudy today, then we typically think it will be a grey, dismal-type day.

And yet that may not be the case. We tend to oftentimes look at the negative side of life especially when we hear these types of reports.

And yet what we seem to oftentimes miss, is the other 50% of the equation. Because even the proposition that it’s “partly cloudy” should cause us to realize that there’s another component in the mix there.

Even if someone is “partly bald” then there must be some hair on the person’s head. Of course that depends upon how much hair he actually has!

Can a person be partly bad — and partly good?

Well, since we are imperfect beings this certainly seems to be an accurate statement.

We can try to be the best people that we can be. We can exhibit kindness and perhaps even patience with those that we meet each day.

And yet as we well know, there will be times throughout the day, when we will be irritated with others and perhaps even say something that was hurtful or callous.

We are truly a mixture of good and bad, because we are human and capable of kindness and yet also of greed and selfishness.

We are told in scripture that:

“For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.” Romans 7:15-17

But I also think that the more we practice and actually do “good things” throughout the day for others, that a habit then develops, and over time, this habit can become our nature.

But no matter how much we muster-up the ability to show forth these good attributes, we eventually fall short and the other nature is seen.

Perhaps some of this is also seen in different personality traits and demeanors. And yet these can be changed over time with concerted effort and practice.

Much also depends upon our thought life and what we dwell upon. In the great classic As a Man Thinketh (1903), James Allen brings forth the notion that our thoughts can have the power over our personalities and traits.

He suggested that we can discover the benefits of mastering our minds and directing our thoughts towards the goals we want to achieve.

There is great value in learning how to do these things, but it takes perseverance and discipline to do them.

And yet even with the great value in doing these things, we waver as human beings, simply because of our inability to master this in light of our human frailties.

But Psalm 1 perhaps has the answer there:

“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. Psalm 1:1-3

 

Selah,
~ Stephen Hanson

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Stephen Hanson of In His Truth Ministries came to The LORD is a special way in 1975 and has prophesied regularly since. In these end-time birthing pangs we are reminded that judgment must first begin with the household of God. Will we be prepared and ready?
Stephen is a full-time Artist of original architectural, landscape, portrait, still-life and spiritual oil paintings, available at StephenHansonArtist.com

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