Our character is mainly shaped by our primary social community - the people with whom we eat, play, converse, and study.
Interpretation
Our character is influenced significantly by the people we regularly interact with.
In this quote, Timothy Keller emphasizes the idea that our social environment plays a crucial role in shaping who we are as individuals. The relationships we foster through shared experiences such as dining, playing, conversing, and studying not only reflect our character but also actively contribute to its development, highlighting the importance of surrounding ourselves with positive influences.
In practice
During a motivational speech on personal development, one could use this quote to emphasize the importance of choosing positive companions.
Falling in love in a Christian way is to say,'I am excited about your future and I want to be part of getting you there. I'm signing up for the journey with you. Would you sign up for the journey to my true self with me? It's going to be hard but I want to get there.
Only in Jesus Christ do we see how the untamable, infinite God can become a baby and a loving Savior. On the cross we see how both the love and the holiness of God can be fulfilled at once.
All human problems are ultimately symptoms, and our separation from God is the cause.
While your character flaws may have created mild problems for other people, they will create major problems for your spouse and your marriage.
To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything. It liberates us from pretense, humbles us out of our self-righteousness, and fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us.
God's Kingdom is "present in its beginnings, but still future in its fullness. This guards us from an under-realized eschatology (expecting no change now) and an over-realized eschatology (expecting all change now). In this stage, we embrace the reality that while we're not yet what we will be, we're also no longer what we used to be.
Once a woman turns against you, forget it. They can love you, then something turns in them. They can watch you dying in a gutter, run over by a car, and they'll spit on you.
... the socialization of boys regarding masculinity is often at the expense of women. I came to realize that we don't raise boys to be men, we raise them not be women (or gay men). We teach boys that girls and women are "less than" and that leads to violence by some and silence by many. It's important for men to stand up to not only stop men's violence against women but, to teach young men a broader definition of masculinity that includes being empathetic, loving and non-violent.
I ain't mad at anybody. I don't have any enemies.
Loyalty means nothing unless it has at its heart the absolute principle of self-sacrifice.
I wish that for just one time you could stand inside my shoes. You'd know what a drag it is to see you.
Something dramatic happens to girls in early adolescence. Just as planes and ships disappear mysteriously into the Bermuda Triangle, so do the selves of girls go down in droves.
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