Word of the Week - godly Character
Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, Character; and Character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Romans 5:3-5
What is Character - The Oxford English Dictionary defines Character as “a distinctive mark impressed, engraved, or otherwise formed”. Character is the essence of who we are on the inside – the internal system that guides us in all that we do, which becomes our permanent engraved nature.
Moral Character - You do not have to be a believer to have strong moral Character, in fact there are many great people throughout history who have displayed amazing Character who did not profess faith. Godly Character includes all of the core virtues of moral Character such as honesty, courage, patience, integrity and self-control but takes Character to a new level with Christlike virtues like humility, joy, faith, hope and love.
Godly Character - As Christians our objective is to take on the Character and nature of Christ so that His ways become our ways. In order to develop Christlike Character we must first be born of the spirit by accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, He is a new creation: The old is gone, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17. This is the part of the Character building process that is a gift from God that we can do nothing to earn or achieve, it is of the Spirit and given by Grace. “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and not from yourselves; it is the gift of God not by works, so than no one can boast” Ephesians 2:8-9. Once we become a new creation in Christ, then our purpose is to Glorify God and allow God to work through us to produce fruit with our lives, which requires Character. Just like sanctification, growing in Character is a process that happens over time as we grow and mature in our walk with God.
So how do we build and develop godly Character? The first way we build godly character is by simply living life and persevering through the challenges of this life as stated in Romans 5:3-5 above. We will experience trials in this life. “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world” John 16:33 Secondly, we grow in godly Character by intentionally practicing godly virtues through training and repetition; these are the disciplines of our faith. Similar to daily workouts for a professional athlete, we must strive daily towards developing godly virtues so they become our nature. It requires intentional effort and discipline. Godly Character is forged and developed over time as we abide in the vine of Christ and grow in our relationship with Him. The byproduct of Godly Character is that our lives produce good fruit by becoming human beings who are naturally inclined to do the right thing. “I am the vine and you are the branches, if you abide in me then I will abide in you and you will bear much fruit. Apart from me you can do nothing”. John 15:5
This is the goal and evidence of godly Character and the highest purpose of our lives as Christ followers. This Glorifies God!!!!!!
Have a great week.
-Duane