God put a process in place in the world that is based on a measure for measure system. Jesus said in Mark 4:24 with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. We will discuss this more in detail below, but in Exodus 34:5-7 it says God is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. It is important to see that God always is willing to show mercy to those who are merciful to others (Matthew 5:7), but it also says he does not leave the guilty unpunished. We all have the ability to show these attributes to others. We should to be forgiving, compassionate, merciful, gracious, slow to anger, kind, and live an honest life. The same measurement of character that we show to others will be shown to us. The way that a person acts, is the way that God acts toward him in kind (Matthew 18:21-35)
Our personal characteristics can be tied to each of these attributes of God. Every characteristic we have can produce both a positive and a negative result. For example, you can have a loving characteristic and show love towards others, or you can be just the opposite and be hateful and show hate towards others. We can be prideful or humble, be happy or mad, or we can be forgiving or unforgiving. It is a choice, and we should be aware we may have a character flaw that we have to work on, and all we have to do is make a choice to correct it. Many times, it is just an adjustment in our attitude.
Proverbs 3:6 says we are to know God in everything we do, and when we do know Him, He will make our path straight. Our job is to align our thinking with His, and He will fix our path. To know God in everything we do is to follow His ways. We know God through His commandments, through seeking Him, and studying His Word (1 John 2:3). We have to be humble and patient with ourselves through our journey of repentance; humility and patience are characteristics.
2 Chronicles 7:14 says, If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
Being humble is a prerequisite for repentance. As we go further in our repentance journey, being humble and patient opens a door and enables us to understand our place in God’s plan. When we know our place in God’s Kingdom, we come to understand the seed that He has placed within us, and that seed produces fruit of righteousness in our life.
13 Attributes of God
An important event happened when the children of Israel left Egypt, and Moses went back up on Mount Sinai to get the 10 Commandments for the second time. The Lord passed before him and stated something very revealing about Himself that is very key to understanding God, and how He will deal with us. What God revealed to Moses is referred to as the thirteen attributes of mercy.
It says in Exodus 34:6-7, “And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”
According to the Rabbis the following are the 13 attributes that were revealed from Exodus 34:
God is:
- compassionate before a person sins
- compassionate after a person has sinned
- mighty in compassion, to give all creatures according to their need
- merciful, that humankind may not be distressed
- gracious if humankind is already in distress
- slow to anger
- plenteous in kindness
- truth
- keeping kindness unto thousands
- forgiving iniquity
- and transgression
- and sin
- and pardoning
When we know God, we live as He does, show His attributes, and in doing so we are walking on His path. The same measurement of character that we show to others will be shown to us. When we leave this earth, and stand before the judgment seat of Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:10), we can know what our outcome will be based on how we treated others, and will have eternal fruit based on how we followed God’s commandments.
Our character shows us what is inside of us, and if we pay attention, we can understand exactly where we stand if we were to face judgment today.
The Bible is all about character development — or becoming a better person. In the Hebrew language the word Middot means character, and it also means “measure,” or “norms”. We can use the measurement of our character to know what we need to work on. God will give us the same measure we gave others. If you let go of grudges easy, God will not hold grudges against you. If you will be merciful to others, there will be mercy for you. This is the law of sowing and reaping Paul referred to in Galatians 6:7-8.
If you have been lacking in any of these attributes, then confess your sins and ask for forgiveness and start today. Do your best to have humility, keep a pure heart before God, and live a lifestyle that is forgiving and full of mercy.
Paul said in Philippians 2:3, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.”
If you have improvement needed with any of these attributes of God, start today. Choose to live a forgiving and merciful life. Pray and ask God to show you how to improve in these areas. Be willing to show mercy and kindness and be slow to anger. It is important to understand that power is granted to every single one of us to choose a path in life. If you want to go towards evil, you can go there. If you want to go after good, you can go there too. If you choose to want to apply God’s attributes in your life, you have the ability to do that. It is up to you!
Repentance is the seed, and our character allows others to see the fruit of repentance in us.
Galatians 5:22-23 says, “but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
Our goal in repentance, and refining our character is to know God in all we do and show fruit of the Spirit in our life.
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