1. We don’t view it as a character flaw. 
2. We are unaware of it.
3. We think it will be too painful to remove it.

If we don’t view a particular behavior as a character flaw it is difficult, if not impossible to get it removed. Only after we finally realize how our character flaw has hurt ourselves and other people will we even consider taking action on it. One way to overcome this difficult situation is to let other people talk openly about how they view you. Open yourself up for some criticism and you will see a side to yourself that you never knew existed.

The next situation is when we are unaware of our character flaw. This is very similar to the situation mentioned above. The easiest way to uncover this is to let other people in. Allow yourself to be viewed from another person’s perspective and you will get fresh insight into the inner workings of yourself and how you can improve. As with the previous reason, make sure that you are prepared to hear what someone else may say. You may not like it, but if done correctly, it will be extremely beneficial.

The third reason is that you simple think it will be too painful to remove the defect. This is a situation that will cause you to live in an environment of ever increasing pain. To remove the character defect you need to relate more pain to continuing to let it exist than you do to removing it. Visualization will help a great deal to helping you achieve this. Visualize yourself living with this character defect; project your visualization one, five, ten and twenty years into the future. Feel the pain and failure that it has caused in your life. Next, visualize the opposite; project your visualization one, five, ten and twenty years into the future. Feel the freedom and success you have experienced in your life by overcoming this obstacle. If done correctly for several weeks, you will be willing to part with this flaw.

As with all of our character flaws, ask God to reveal them to you. Ask him to remove them and He will!

It’s easy to give in to group pressure. It’s easy to say that I will take a particular course of action or make a decision based on the crowd. There is really no thinking involved, you just act; but the mentality that “everybody else” is doing it will ultimately lead to frustration and unhappiness in your life.

It doesn’t matter what “everybody else” is doing. It matters what your beliefs and character say. We live in a world that is becoming more and more permissive in its attitudes and actions. Look at any news based website, you would have a difficult time honestly disagreeing with me based on today’s headlines.

Let me make a suggestion, before you get into a situation where your beliefs and character will be tested. Decide what you believe, now, before you are confronted with your next situation. Decide that you will stick to your beliefs no matter what anyone around you is doing or saying. It may seem hard at first, but if you develop this characteristic as a matter of lifestyle, doors of opportunity will swing open to you. Opportunity for you to help others stand for what they believe in.

We need to focus on our character every single day; always working to eliminate our character defects while building and developing our character strengths. When we stop focusing on these objectives and making them a daily part of our lives we begin to fall back into old damaging patterns.