TRANSCRIPT

“Hey, everyone, I’m Anne-Marie Michaelis, a Christian author and coach. Welcome to the Faith Calls Podcast. My life was radically transformed during a supernatural encounter with Jesus.

God allowed my eyes to be spiritually open long enough to see the truth of the hidden battles and to scare the rebellion against him right out of me. Over the years, God has revealed my identity in Christ and purpose in him, calling me to step forward unapologetically into that purpose. Faith Calls for identity in Christ, purpose in God, and action, walking out God’s purpose for our lives.

As believers in Christ, we know that each of us has a unique purpose and plan pre-designed by God. Part of this podcast, we’ll be diving into our identity in Christ and purpose in God. God’s word clarifies that we should be diligent, plan, and walk out our purpose as He has designed for us, leveraging the spiritual gifts gifted to us by the Holy Spirit.”

“This is a deep dive into our call, purpose, mission, vision, and commitment to walking out our purpose in God. Please take a moment to follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and subscribe to my channel on YouTube at God Design LLC. Podcasts are available on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

For a free download of my memoir, visit my website at GodDesign.me. Hello, everyone. This is the third episode of the workbook, Identity and Purpose in God, Her Plan and Schedule 365.

Episode 3 from the Faith Calls Podcast, part 2 of chapter 2, called Your Design, Godly Traits. And we’ll be breaking this chapter out into three parts. Let’s start with prayer.

Heavenly Father, we declare that you, Lord, will accomplish that which concerns us. Your unwavering, loving kindness, O Lord, endures forever. You will not abandon the works of your own hands.”

“You, Lord, who began good work in us, will continue to perfect and complete it until the day of Jesus’ return. Therefore, we accept your call on our life, Lord, and we are forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead. We press on toward the goal to win the prize for which you have called us heavenward in Christ Jesus.

In all our ways, we submit to you and believe with all confidence that you will make our paths straight. You, Lord, will instruct us and teach us in the way we should go. You, Lord, will counsel us with your loving eye on us.

We promise to seek first your kingdom and your righteousness, and know with great confidence that all these things will be given to us as well. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.

So last week, we started talking about your design and went over your natural propensities, basically your skills and talents. And this week, we’ll continue on your design and talk about your positive godly traits. And then next week, we’ll wrap up your design before moving on to the next full chapter, which is about your experiences.”

“So this chapter on your design is three parts, your natural propensities, your skills and talents from last week and your godly traits. And then next week, I’ve titled your heart, which will be the last part of chapter two, covering your design. So here we go.

Your design, your positive godly traits. We are a work in progress, and God created us to change and grow. So this next question is about taking inventory of the traits that you currently speak to the most.

So these are traits that currently speak to you the most that you are demonstrating currently. These traits, you know, can be negative or positive, ungodly or godly. For this exercise, we’re going to focus on the positive godly traits that support our purpose.

What godly traits are you currently demonstrating in your life? That’s the reflection question. And this is going to be a long list.”

“So I’m going to ask you to put a check mark next to all the traits. And these are godly traits that you currently demonstrate in your life. Now, if you have the book, you know, the workbook or the worksheets, put a check mark next to all the traits that you currently demonstrate in your life.

If you don’t have the workbook or the worksheet, pause and jot down on paper all the traits that you currently demonstrate in your life. This is where I’d highly suggest just downloading the free PDF from GodDesign.me website, and you’ll be able to follow along much easier. So you’re not pausing so much.

So here we go. What godly traits are you currently demonstrating in your life? And I’m going to read through these at a pace where hopefully you can either jot them down, or if you got the worksheet or the book, you can just circle them.”

“Okay, or check mark. Loving, joyful, peace-filled, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, self-controlled, attentive, appreciative, belief-filled, bold, calm, cautious, charitable, childlike, committed, compassionate, confident, content, consistent, conviction, cooperative, courageous, creative, decisive, dependable, determined, devoted, disciplined, diligent, discerning, discrete, enduring, enthusiastic, faithful, fair, fearless, forgiving, generous, God-conscious, godly, gracious, grateful, hopeful, honest, hospitable, humble, inspiring, knowledge seeker, leader, long-suffering, loyal, meek, merciful, modest, moral, nurturing, obedient, optimistic, orderly, passionate, peaceful, peacemaker, perseverant, prayerful, prompt, punctual, pure, purposeful, resilient, resourceful, respectful, responsible, righteous, sacrificial, secure, selfless, servant leader, sincere, slow to speak, spirit-filled, steward, submissive, supportive, tactful, temperate, thankful, thoughtful, tolerant, trusting, trustworthy, trustful, unafraid, understanding, virtuous, wise, zealous.

Okay, next, run back through all of that and see what you have checked. And what I’d like you to do next is put a star next to the top three traits that define you the most. So put a star next to the top three traits that define you the most.”

“So basically, you put a check mark next to all the traits, or if you were trying to jot these down, you wrote them all down, the ones that you currently are demonstrating in your life. And so next, what we’re doing is we’re going to run back through the ones that you’ve already checked or wrote down, and you’re going to put a star next to the top three traits that define you the most. And then finally, we’re going to circle the non-negotiable traits that you live by and you don’t compromise on.

So circle the non-negotiable traits that you live by and you never compromise on.

Let’s look at what I’m calling the godliness process. And let me read to you 2 Peter 1 verse 5 through 7, and bear with me because it kind of builds, one thing builds on to another thing. So I call it a process.

For this very reason, applying your diligence to the divine promises, make every effort in exercising your faith to develop moral excellence. And in moral excellence, knowledge, insight, understanding. And in your knowledge, self-control.”

“And in your self-control, steadfastness. And in your steadfastness, godliness. And in your godliness, brotherly affection.

And in your brotherly affection, develop Christian love. That is, learn to unselfishly seek the best for others, and to do things for their benefit. So 2nd Peter 1 verse 5 through 7 emphasizes the importance of adding positive traits like this to faith for a flourishing Christian life.

It outlines a progression of virtues including godliness, which is essential for spiritual growth and fruitfulness. Godliness is a core virtue. It’s not just a nice to have, it’s a crucial component of spiritual maturity, reflecting a reverence for God and a desire to live in a way that honors him, that builds on other virtues.

Godliness builds upon faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control and perseverance. It’s a natural progression in the development of Christian character. It’s essential for spiritual fruitfulness.

It’s a path to spiritual maturity. To drive the point home, let’s look at it this way. How many of us know and understand the value and necessity of physical training, working out and caring for our bodies physically, especially as we age and body tone is not a naturally occurring thing.”

“You have to work at it, train it, kind of like the idea, use it or lose it. So first, Timothy 4 verse 8 says this, for physical training is of some value, but godliness spiritual training is of value in everything and in every way, since it holds promise for the present life and for the life to come. So going back to the godly traits list exercise that we did with that long list of godly traits we went over.

Let’s do one last thing with that list. Go back to that list. You can pause it right here and go back to your list if you don’t have it in front of you still.

OK, so now underline all the traits that speak to you and perhaps you’re not presently demonstrating. So all the traits that kind of speak to you, but you’re not demonstrating right now.”

“So those traits, they’re going to need some godliness spiritual training, right? So what do or have others seen in you as a positive godly trait? This is another question I’m wanting you to reflect on, you know, after you’ve gone over and underlined your traits that you kind of, they’re speaking to you, but you’re not demonstrating it, so they’re going to need godliness training.

The next question is this, what do or have others seen in you as a positive godly trait? And if you don’t know, start asking your family, friends, coworkers, even show them your list from the workbook or the worksheet, or if you wrote down somewhere, you know, all of the godly traits, show them the list if you have to, because sometimes we are, you know, our worst critic, and you may have humbly not checked a trait that others easily recognize and admire in you. So we don’t want to kind of cancel out traits just because we’re maybe, you know, really hard on ourselves.”

“And we actually do demonstrate a trait that others can see very clearly in us. So make sure you do this part of the exercise too. It’s really important.

So we know that physical training is a value for caring for our body. So my first question is, just because we want to make sure we’re comparing this properly, what physical training are you currently doing? Assuming you’re doing some type of physical training, and it can be something like lifting weights, cycling, walking, working in a garden or farm, cleaning houses, et cetera.

How much time and effort are you devoting to your physical training?

Okay. So we kind of evaluated and looked at our physical training, which we know is of some value to us, right, as we’re here on this earth. But scripture tells us how much more value it is to be doing godliness training, right?

So we know now that godliness spiritual training is of value in everything and in every way, since it holds promise for the present life and for the life to come. So the big question is then, what godliness training are you currently doing?”

“And how much time and effort are you devoting to your godliness training? So I added a how to in here. This won’t be in your book if you have the book, it won’t be in the worksheets, but I decided to add a little how to in here because it kind of was laid on me when I was remembering when I was doing the sports performance training I used to do, that there was questions that came up, and I’m going to go over that with you.

So most people that know me well know that I was heavy into sports and fitness. In my early 30s, I became certified in sports performance and physical training, focusing on fitness and training for sports performance. So the most frequently asked questions were things like, how do I start?

And what do I do? And that makes sense. So naturally, if we’re going to do godliness training, we should be clear in answering those same questions.

How do I start? And what do I do? And here are some tips to kind of have you start working on for your godliness training.”

“How to tip number one, begin with faith in Christ. Ensure you have trusted in Jesus Christ for salvation. Godliness is only possible through the new life and promises given in Christ.

So make sure you’re in Christ. You have surrendered to Christ. Start right there.

Start it with the relationship you have with Christ, with Jesus. Tip two, commit to spiritual disciplines. The Bible, God’s Word, regularly read, study, memorize, and meditate on Scripture.

The Word of God is foundational for spiritual growth. You want to be praying, write prayer, develop a habit of daily prayer, seeking God’s help to grow, to be more Christ-like, and journaling. Keep a spiritual journal to record prayers, insights, and progress in godliness.

So that’s all under tip two, which is committing to spiritual disciplines. Tip three, final tip, practice diligence and perseverance. Growth in godliness requires deliberate effort and perseverance.

Make every effort. Set aside regular focused time for spiritual disciplines. And there are many, many more tips I could give you, but here are just a few basics, and that should keep you going, or at least get you started.”

“All right, let’s wrap this up. Your godly traits, end of chapter reflections. Write a note to Jesus, thanking him for your current godly traits, and ask him to help you train up in the other godly traits you had underlined.

Hey, friends, that’s a wrap of today’s Faith Calls podcast. A transcript for this week’s podcast and my memoir are available for free download on my website at GodDesign.me. Or check out some of my other books that you may find helpful.

If you liked this episode, please share it with others. Faith Calls for Identity in Christ, Purpose in God and Action, walking out God’s purpose for our lives. Never stop praying, never give up and I’ll see you next week.”