“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault.” (James 1:1 – 5)
Many of us have read this verse but do we truly believe that the trials we are going through are actually provided by God to mould our character? How hen can we allow God to mould our lives?
1. Be Sensitive and let God Mold your Character when you are in the Desert
Many of us go through deserts in our lives at certain point of time. Some of our desert experience seemed to last very long, some of us get out of the desert much faster than others… I believe how long we will stay in the desert depends on how fast we learn what the Lord wants to teach us as we go through our desert experience. If we remained ignorant of what is God doing in our lives, or remained unchanged in our behavior which God wants to change in us…, then we may wander around in the dessert going in circles
experiencing the same obstacles over and over again in our lives…
Like what the Apostle James said, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds”, we need to be able to appreciate the trials that we faces in life and see what God is teaching us through those trials. Then as we grow in sensitivity to what God is doing, we will be able to overcome those obstacles in our lives better and grow in our Character which God is painstakingly building. When our character is being built up, we will be able to conquer with an unwavering faith just like Joshua, the Conqueror. When our character is formed, we will be ready to move out of the desert and crossed River Jordan into the Promised Land.
2. Be Patience & Persevering and let God help you grow in Maturity when you face Trials
Character Building requires an intense and profound work. Great effort and patience are required in order to grow in maturity in the Lord. We need to grow from the stage where we are always acting on our own emotions to the stage where we allow God to work through our weaknesses such that we will not be controlled by our emotions alone. When we face trials, the first thing that we need to overcome is not to react to the situations… But we need to learn to response to adverse situations and ask ourselves how we can overcome. We need to learn to ask the Lord what He is teaching us and have peace that God is in control. This process of growing in the Peace of the Lord and growing in maturity is not easily achieved. It requires a lot of patience and perseverance to achieve that state of peace in our minds and emotions. It comes from the Lord, but we need to grow into it as the Lord work through our lives to build His character in us.
3. Be Determined and let God help you Grow in Self-Control when you are being Tested
Self-control is the Foundation of our Character. This is the capacity to not allow our desires to control how we act. Self-control is the ability to control our emotions and guide them in a positive sense, especially in our relationships with others. God takes advantage of each situation to mould our behavior. Once He has succeeded, He turns us into able leaders who can face adversity. The adverse circumstances of life are part of a process of divine working that give substance to our character. The Lord wants His character to be implemented into our life. It is not easy to attain full maturity in Christ. This implementation implies dedication, effort, consecration and the denying of ourselves.
Conclusion
We need to build our confidence in God. Especially when we go through trials in our lives, we need to trust Him that believed that God is in control. He will lead us into Triumphant Victory if we learn to depend on Him. Let us remember that we can always count on the Holy Spirit’s help. Without Him, it would be impossible to attain the Christ-like character that God wants in us.
Source of the above message: Message 12
(Taken from the book by Cesar Castellanos D, 52 Teachings for the G12 Meetings)
Teaching 12: The Influence of Character in Discipleship
The words below are extracts from Pastor Cesar’s book itself…
Introduction
Anyone who is full of God will ultimately reflect God in their character, and they will bare witness to the fruit of the Holy Spirit. The type of leaders God wants to raise up in these days need to be known for their strength of character. This type of character strengthens them in their time of testing, removes all self confidence, and takes them to fully depend on God. Character refers to the basic characteristic related to values and morals of an individual.
1. God Molds our Character
In the Scriptures, we find examples of men and women who had a covenant with God to fulfill his purpose in them. Moses, one of the great leaders in the Old Testament, had to spend years of his life in the desert before God could entrust him with His work. As it was with Moses, we will have to cross deserts and spiritual processes until the Lord can form our character. Fo this reason, we should be prepared to come out victorious in order to help our people conquer the same process later.
2. Stages of spiritual growth
* Spiritual adolescence
This stage is when we act on our own emotions. Moses was aware of his position and identity, but in his desire to help one of his people, he acted on his human wisdom and ended up killing an Egyptian. He was then forced to flee and take refuge in the desert.
* Ministerial formation
God allowed Moses to experience all kinds of needs in the desert for the purpose of stripping him of all the teachings that he had received in the Egyptian Royal Palace. At the same time as he was being tested, he was also being cleansed. God took advantage of everyday to form his character. It is possible that we may have to go through times in the desert so that the Lord can place his character in us.
* Ministerial maturity
God formed Moses’ character by working on his weaknesses. This is what gave him the strength to endure the quarrels of an entire nation who never understood what God wanted to do with their lives. However, in spite of it all, Moses allowed himself to be used by God in signs, wonders and miracles. When we go through the desert, we become different individuals, and miracles will take place through our lives.
3. The Formation of Character: An Intense Work
For true leadership, an intense and profound work is required within ourselves. Effort and patience are also required in order to see fruit.
4. Self-Control: The Foundation of our Character
Weakness or strength of character depends on self-control. This is the capacity to not allow our desires to control how we act. This attitude defines our personality. In other words, self-control as the basis of character, is the ability to control our emotions and guide them in a positive sense, especially in our relationships with others. We should set as our goal the formation of leaders with character and equip them to face challenges that will arise day after day. It is not an easy task, but it is possible to shape their personality based on Biblical principles and patterns. This will allows them to achieve a level of responsibility so that they can be used as an instrument of God. God takes advantage of each situation to mould our behavior. Once He has succeeded, He turns us into able leaders who can face adversity. The adverse circumstances of life are part of a process of divine working that gives substance to our character. The Lord wants His character to be implemented into our life. It is not easy to attain full maturity in Christ. This implementation implies dedication, effort, consecration and the denying of ourselves. However, let us remember that we can always count on the Holy Spirit’s help. Without Him, it would be impossible to attain the Christ-like character that God wants in us.
Conclusion
Just as God dealt with the character of many men who had specific callings, so it will also be with each one of us.
Have a good week ahead!
Pastor William
