I took my time to look around and study the way people live their lives. I discovered that some people live the life of investment while some live the life of expenditure. Some are busy building, while others are destroying their own lives.  Then I asked myself: What is the reason people behave that way? I found out that there are different hearts with different characters and different ways of looking at things. One may pretend on the outside to be good, whereas within him, he is very wicked; on the outside very polite and very nice, but within him there is an ulterior motive. This means packaging is deceptive. Today, for instance, when we are looking for a pastor or a companion or a partner, we are tempted to look only at outward qualities such as friendliness, handsomeness, speaking skills and ability to inspire. No mention will be made of character or inner being because human judgment is limited. Human knowledge can tell how man look, but only God can tell what they are because he judges men by the heart. God knows all men; He knows you, He knows me. He knows our disposition, our nature, our design and our true character – He knows. This is why on the last day, we will be judged, not by the colour of our skin or by our handsomeness neither by our speaking skills but by the content of our character.

Proof text: Romans 5:1-5

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into his grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance and character; hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us“.

I want you to mark this last portion we have just read that says, “By the Holy Spirit, who he has given us”. It means God has given us the Holy Spirit. If God has given us the Holy Spirit, how has that affected our lives? The basic work of the Holy Spirit in salvation is to import new life into the heart of a believer, thus making him a child of God, all by faith.

Therefore, when the Holy Spirit took up residence within us, He did so with the thought of aiding us in developing a Holy Character, whereas the same cannot be said of satan. When satan takes up residence within his people, he does so with the thought of aiding them in developing an evil character. This clearly indicates that there are two kinds of characters: Holy character and evil character. There is no neutral character.

One may say: “You know what? I don’t have a holy character, but I don’t think I have an evil character either. I just have my own character”. In this world, there are three spirits: God’s spirit, satan’s spirit and evil spirit. Man’s spirit is a free moral agent that can yield to either God’s spirit or satan’s spirit. So, where do you belong? The Bible says, by their fruits, characters and attitude to life, we know who the children of God are: they are never anxious for anything. But the ungodly – candidates of fell – are not so. They are opposite of the righteous both in character and condition; they bring forth no fruit. They are chaff blown away by the wind. They have no place in the congregation. They run while no one pursues them. The Lord curses everything they lay their hands on. Wicked people would hold to the outward form of religion but reject the real power; i.e. the power in it. They may do so much by outward restraint but lack the character of God in their resolution.

How can we know the true character of a person? Man can only hide his true character until his pride is injured. It is the character of an evil man that has an evil treasure in his heart and when you provoke him, out of it brings forth evil things; but the child of God bears the image of his father by being good and by doing good, knowing that the words we speak, the conversation we have with people and the sermons we preach are part of the talents we are entrusted with. They shall be evidence either for or against us on the last day. (Matthew 12:37). Remember that God has entrusted us with a treasury, the words are the things brought out of the treasury. It is the character of a good man that has a good treasure in his heart and from there he brings forth good things, love, kindness, good affection, tenderness, wisdom of utterances, power to counsel and good knowledge are all good treasures hidden in the heart; the law of God has written them there, ready for use as occasion demands.

Romans 5:3-4 “…suffering produces perseverance; perseverance and character; hope.” Gold is not valued until it is tested by fire; as gold is tested by fire so also human character is tested in the furnace of humiliation. Sickness/poverty/contempt can humiliate one. As a Christian, when you are humiliated by these foolish things, keep calm and be determined. Mention any champion of faith in the Bible and you will see how much pain, trial of faith and deprivation he had to endure to come to a new level in life. Hardship and temptation discipline us and improve or Christian character, this making us better Disciples of Christ. The trials that comes from Jesus helps our character development, if it is accompanied by perseverance. “But I am a child of God. Why am I suffering?” God sometimes uses hard times to produce character, humility, maturity and completeness in us so that we can share in His Holiness and be equipped to enjoy the peace and righteousness in Christ Jesus. There is nothing God cannot use to test our faith, but because of the tests we fail, we are not moving forward. It is not our perfection that makes us Christians; it is the number of test we pass.

“How can I have the character of God?” there is no way you can have the character of God without His word because God’s word reflects His Character. Love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, humility – these are the things the nature of Christ builds in us, through His word by His spirit. In other words, God is building His character into us, making Himself a part of us, as the word dominates, rules and sanctifies our spirit nature.

Therefore, whatever situation you find yourself in, whether good or bad, live your Christian life the same way you began it; by trusting Jesus Christ. When you trust God in all trials, the greater the trails, the greater you become…..TBJ…..SCOAN

HAVE A BLESSED WEEK.

Kindly subscribe to this blog via mail for easy sharing. Thanks for your cooperation and understanding.Join our BBM channel. Channel pin: C002984DE or just search “elsieisy”Got something you want us to talk about or feel like sharing?? Send your topics/articles to email@elsieisy.com or Elsieisy@gmail.com .. Anonymous or not..you decide