The cross is an important issue in the Christian faith because it was at the cross that the work of salvation was done and completed. It is an emblem of suffering and pain, and a reminder of what our Lord and Saviour went through to give us salvation. In this discourse I want to look at something very important for our Christian living and that is our character. Someone said and I quite agree that Christianity is a religion of character by which he was referring to the fact that character transformation is an evidence of a life that has encountered Jesus. Unfortunately, in our days good character seem to have departed from many of us believers.
WHAT IS CHARACTER?
Character can be referred to as the following: nature, quality, temperament, disposition, spirit, moral fiber or make up. Let us look closely at each of these meanings believing that the Spirit of grace will grant us insight into the heart of our father.
The nature of man has a lot to do with his class, value, worth and feature. Many times you find people say 'it is my nature' and it is surprising that they say such when they have done something wrong. Worse still many Christians are in the habit of attributing their misbehaviour to their nature. Beloved if your claim to being born-again is to be taken seriously then you need to take on the nature of Christ and bury your so called nature, Col 3:1-3, makes it clear that the legitimacy of our claim to sonship is hinged on dealing with our old nature and taking on the nature of Christ.
Temperament: Many Christians default temperament wise just because they have no control over themselves, and some do glory in the fact that it runs in their family or that they are better now. The standard of measuring their improvement lies with their past and not the scripture but I found in Gal 5 the fact that uncontrolled and sinful anger which is a lack of control over one’s temperament is a work of the flesh and that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Disposition: A simple interpretation of disposition is outlook, may I ask what is your outlook of life? Does it tally with that of God? So many of us have the same outlook with God on many issues but on some issues of life it is what our friends, partners, relatives or culture says that we hold on to even when it runs contrary to scriptures. That should not be the case as the word of God should be the final arbiter in every issue of life because of its absolute truth, 2Tim 3:16-17.
Job 32:8 says there is a spirit in man, this confirms the fact that we are a tripartite being made up of a spirit living in a body and having a soul, bearing this in mind our spirit man needs to be renewed from time to time until it meets Christ’s expectations and this must be a continual exercise which we must give our attention to and make our number one priority. This is extremely important because it is our spirit that will remain in eternity and when it does not fit into God’s standard as a result of our inability to renew it God will reject it and that eternally.
The make up or moral fiber of a man tells us all about the man, a man may be laughing and smiling while deep down he is a wicked being. The bible says the heart of man is desperately wicked who can know it . There is a need to make a conscious effort to deal with our make up and conform our moral fiber to that of Christ as this is the only way to be assured a place on the day of Christ, (Mk 7:23).
A WAY OUT
It is not enough to itemize problems without proffering solutions to them, else it will become an exercise in futility. So then what do we do about bad characters that many of us are labouring under? CROSS IT OUT. Whenever we write something and want to render it obsolete, we cross it out, even in an exam once something is crossed out it becomes irrelevant and does not count again.
In crossing out bad characters however, only the power released at the cross through the atoning death of Jesus Christ can help. Many had tried in their own power to do so but have failed woefully, some are just moralists and they shut out themselves from everybody just because they don’t want to misbehave. Friends, the only solution lies in Jesus if only you can cry out to Him today and be really tired of your bad character then He will help you. But it you still glory in the fact that you are trying or that you are not alone in this act or way of life then you are missing it and may eventually miss the glorious appearing of the Lord.
Finally I beseech you to critically examine your life and character as I pray the Holy Spirit to grant you understanding. If you find anything that does not glorify God or that you are trying to keep away from people especially from believers, please CROSS IT OUT.
Shalom. |
