Month: April 2025

Rich Meat Pie or Hollow Meat Pie: Allowing God to build our character.

There is an Akan saying that translates to: “Character is like pregnancy, it is impossible to hide it forever.” Figuratively, time and moments beyond control will inevitably expose our true character. If we hide our character due to expectations or our need for favor, with time and in moments beyond our control, the walls and boundaries we put in place will be broken down to reveal our core selves.

The Unavoidable Revelation of Character

I have been giving a lot of thought to the concept of character development since a sermon I heard recently. The preacher told the true-life story of a renowned person who was so gifted that his talents won souls, healed the sick, and were a marvel to the church and beyond. However, with time and in moments that fell out of his control, his character, which he had not allowed God to truly develop through his relationships and community, led him to lose everything, including his marriage and position. He became very proud, refused to listen to advice, believing he was the smartest and most gifted. This life story blew me away. God placed every good thing in this man’s hands, yet that inner self or Christian character, to be specific, let all that was valuable slip through his hands.

Examining Our Inner Self: When Character Limits Us

Since hearing this message, God has nudged my heart many times to consider the many ways my character limits me from becoming who God created me to be. Traits like pride, entitlement, ingratitude, and deceit (just to mention a few bad character traits) can absolutely ruin the good things God sends our way, like friendships, family, and community. I am learning just how valuable good character is and how building that sort of character protects us from losing the gifts and people God brings into our lives.

The Ghanaian Meat Pie Analogy: Substance Over Appearance

A Black hand holds two halves of a crescent-shaped Ghanaian meat pie, one showing a rich, full filling and the other completely hollow. Visual metaphor for comparing rich character and hollow character.Recently, I chanced on a Facebook reel of a lady making Ghanaian meat pies. A meat pie is a flaky savory turnover filled with spiced minced meat (usually beef) and vegetables, popular as a snack in Ghana. In the reel, the lady used thick dough but put little to almost no filling in the pies. Many comments expressed disappointment from picking up a pie with such a thick crust, expecting a generous filling, only to see an almost empty interior. Since I watched that reel, I found that very analogous to character. Because in the end, what counts is how well our inner selves have been enriched and equipped to handle times and moments that are beyond our control.

A hollow meat pie is an utter disappointment, especially when the crust looks so good on the outside. The truth is, it does not matter how much we cover ourselves in fake humility, educational degrees, prominence, gifts, or money. When those hard moments come knocking, what will make us endure and stand firm will be what we have built up on the inside.

Allowing God to Build Character: The Lifelong Process

From what I have learned in the past weeks, building good character is an ongoing process till we die. It cannot be marked as accomplished and simply moved on from. It is a process where God seeks to shine His character through us as much as we permit Him to do so. It is in our best interest to choose to be the rich meat pie, as the hawkers say – one filled with ample substance. When inevitably life slices us open, the character God has built within us will be revealed, a core that honors Him and blesses everyone around us. This is the essence of spiritual growth and true resilience.

Only the Owner Knows the Worth

A man works on a bag strap in a workshop, with tools and materials visible in the background. A medium-sized bag is showcased on a stool in the foreground.A man works on a bag strap in a workshop, with tools and materials visible in the background. A medium-sized bag is showcased on a stool in the foreground.
Like a master craftsman, we are all designed with purpose

I have had a very long-term struggle with my self-worth. For a very long time and until recently, I failed to realize that I was not the determining factor of my worth. My worth is not based on the things I accomplish, acquire or fail at. My worth was fixed way before I was even born. Way before my parents were born. So, it does not matter how I choose to see myself or how others put my value at, my real value or worth was decided and set in stone by God before I stepped on earth.

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. Psalm 139:13-16 ESV

What made things change for me was finally coming into alignment with what God had defined as my worth and walk with this truth. A wise woman once shared this analogy, which also helped me reorient my thinking. She said, take the best quality and most expensive bag you know, like this AI-generated bag in the photo. When the owner designed the bag, she or he had a purpose for the bag. Perhaps it was to be a complement to a particular dress, or to be a bag that could carry some specific amount of weight. Now the owner would choose the resources for the bag based on this purpose. The owner would determine, for example, what kind of material or leather would best fit the goal he or she wanted to achieve with the bag. In the end, when the bag is created, it is only the owner who knows how much thought, how much toil and time, and the costs invested into creating the bag. It is the owner of the bag who can tell the real value of the bag, not the bag (the creation), nor the people who wish to buy it.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10 ESV

God made everyone one-of-a-kind, a masterpiece of art, that is irreplaceable. He knew what He wanted us to achieve and created us for this purpose. God’s plan was set in motion even before we were born, God does not make up things along the way. Nothing about us catches Him by surprise. So, if my Maker says His plan for me is for good and everything is working out for my good, who am I to argue with Him, only because I do not see my life in the way that God, the creator and owner, sees my life.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 ESV

I am still a work in progress, but it has been amazing for me to see how aligning my thoughts with God’s thoughts caused a major shift in how I value myself. I am pressing on and hope to come in complete alignment with His defined value for me, which is not hidden somewhere, but written in His Word.

The Parable of the Senior Brother

A digital artwork showing a village scene with mudbrick houses and figures celebrating. A mature figure embraces a younger one in the center, while another figure stands apart with crossed arms. Other figures are playing instruments and observing. Colorful cloths are draped around, and the scene is lit by a warm, setting sun.

AI-generated image depicting the Parable of the Prodigal Son in a Ghanaian setting

 

In the parable of the prodigal son, the senior brother was angry and refused to join the celebration of his brother’s return. What really made him angry was that his father celebrated the return of his brother, who had been careless with the father’s share of the property. In his opinion, such a celebration should have been reserved for him, the one who stayed, was obedient, and served.  

In life, we often associate celebration with accomplishment, with achieved success, not with rebellion or disobedience. The celebration reported in the parable of the prodigal son comes as awkward for the senior brother, almost a disregard for his diligence.  What the senior brother failed to see was that the celebration was an outpouring of grace. It had nothing to do with his younger brother’s past deeds. The celebration was that his junior brother had returned, and most importantly, with a new perspective on life. The junior brother had recognized his past ways as wrong and repented for them. That was something his father, in an act of pure grace, saw as worthy of celebration. Though his senior brother viewed his younger brother by his past sins, what he did not recognize was that his junior brother had made a shift from who he used to be. As his father said, “… It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive…”. Basically, he had begun a new life, and that is worthy of celebration.

God’s arms are always wide open. God is full of grace and consistently looks forward to welcoming anyone who needs to return to Him to that place where we always felt at home. He is forever hopeful that one day, like the prodigal son, we will come to ourselves and run back home to him. When we do take that step to come home, our heavenly Father will throw a party and rejoice. We should keep in mind that those who remained faithful, our ‘senior brothers’, will see us in the light of the person we used to be and not be worth the fuss of a celebration. This is expected, especially as they held the fort while we were out and about in rebellion. What we need to do is pray for our ‘senior brothers’ so that they come into alignment with God and see that we were then dead and now only started living. And that indeed is a cause for God to rejoice.

 

The parable of the prodigal son can be found in Luke 15:11-31.