JMS Blog

I would like to pose the question, nurture or nature? Being in Providence, we are taught that we can change and become a better person, so I believed that nurture overpowers nature. To believe that we can change no matter where we started out from is a great belief. However, I'm led to believe that nature is not completely out of the picture. I see so many different types of people and seeing, hearing what they choose to see or hear makes me wonder if in fact, it is their innate character that determines how they choose to be nurtured.

For example, two children of the same family can become good or bad even if they were exposed to the same environment, teachings, and parents. With a great leader, a person can choose to see the same actions as negative or positive. And a person can choose to see only the mistakes and learn them or learn to hate them. In the same way, a person can choose to see only their best traits and learn them or learn to love them.

Weeds, I conclude, choose to see the bad no matter what the cause. Anyone, MS or not, if they persecute or target and attack someone, they are not any better. Life is short and this is a lifelong project to make ourselves perfect (Matthew 5:48), so why should we see and hear the bad. There's not even enough time to take in all the good in this world.

Ok, back to our topic. So, is it our innate character that determines how we are nurtured in the first place? Maybe. But I do hold onto the thought that with tremendous amount of effort and prayer, and definitely God's miraculous hands, we can change our innate character. After all, our innate character is ultimately the image of God as we were created in His image.