God Cares About Character

There is an old adage that reads, “Being precedes doing.” In a world that is preoccupied with what you do, as believers we should be much more concerned with what we be, that is, character. We see this in the lives of so many of the biblical characters.

Abraham waited 25 years between when he left Ur and when his son, Isaac, was born. During that time his faith was severely tested. Today he is known as the father of faith. Moses spent 40 years in Egypt, receiving the best education the ancient world could offer, and 40 years in character development in the wilderness before stepping into his divine calling. He went from being a prince of Egypt, raised to rule, to being described as the most humble man that ever lived. Joseph spent years of his life as a slave and in prison before the realization of his God-ordained dreams. We see him transformed from an arrogant, somewhat spoilt favored son, to a humble and gracious ruler that saved his family from starvation. David spent 14 years in character development between when he was anointed as king and when he became king over Israel. Most of that time was spent either serving Saul as king, or running from Saul, learning to rest in God and trust Him for his protection. Both Saul and David made mistakes, sinning against God, but whereas Saul did not humble himself before God and repent, David did, and the Lord was with him. God, in His great understanding, allowed each of these men to go through serious character development before leading them into positions of influence.
David, the youth, takes down Goliath!


Now, while some will be called to be great leaders, the chances are that not all of us will be kings, great leaders or rulers of Egypt. But the process of character development is nevertheless crucial in our lives. God doesn’t invest less in us just because we don’t have as high a profile in leadership. And He doesn’t set us a lower standard to live by either. We are all called to righteousness; we are all called to live lives that are separated unto Him. The gifts that we do use for His service were all given by Him anyway and so we have no right to be proud of them. We simply need to give them back to Him. If God can use donkeys to speak His words of wisdom, maybe your being used by Him isn’t such a big deal. But the character that you are called to represent is, for we are called to represent His character. The fruit of the Spirit which is to grow and mature in us is nothing less than the character of God. We need to give ourselves to developing His character so that we look like Him. What He chooses to do with our lives is up to Him.
En Gedi, where David hid from King Saul

Self-Control

Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit. Like all fruit, it does not magically appear in our lives one day. We don't go, "Wow, where did that come from? It wasn't there yesterday!" This is not to undermine the sovereign work of God's Spirit in us. But God did not call these "precious stone's of the Spirit". We do not find them under rocks. These are fruit; they grow, develop and then mature, and this process belongs to the work of God's Spirit in us.

This is not to say that we are not partakers in this work. We are co-laborers with Christ. And our greatest assistance to Him is our yielding to Him. Sometimes yielding is about getting out the way; sometimes it is about doing. Sometimes it is about both. To yield to His work that strips elements of our old, sinful natures from us, to do what He tells us to do, and both when we do what He desires against the desire of our old selves. Self-control is born of two essential elements: Discipline and Vision.

I believe that discipline has got a bad rap in Christianity (at least in a youthful and more recent Christianity). The ideal of a free-spirited Christian going out there and spontaneously being led by the Spirit from one day to the next has become something of an ideal for the Christian; a type of spiritual Indiana Jones. The idea of a disciplined and focused Christian who is deliberate in his spirituality and relationship with God is seen as stiff and severe, a type of spiritual chartered accountant.

But the truth is that the first is only possible with the second. Christians of consequence, no matter how charismatic or flamboyant, are born in the quiet, consistent solitude of prayer and personal devotion to the Lord. Sometimes that means sacrifice. But the things we give up are hardly ever counted as sacrifice when we experience God in a deeper way. As we find ourselves consistently in the presence of the Lord, we find ourselves more open to being led by Him, more frequently hearing His voice, and more readily being able or willing to obey Him. Being Spirit-led is birthed out of discipline. That is why Indiana Jones is an archeological student long before a treasure hunter.

The interesting thing is that discipline breeds discipline. "I wake up early to pray; therefore I need to be in bed early." "I run after work, therefore I need to eat a healthy lunch." "I am studying Andrew Murray's 'Abiding in Christ’; therefore I cannot watch Youtube for 3 hours tonight." The best way to discipline your life is to start to discipline something. The rest will follow and grow out of this one principled decision to be disciplined in an area of your life. Start with the smaller, easier things, and the more difficult things will follow. The idea of discipline in the Christian life is reflected in the language used to describe the Christian. He is a runner who disciplines his body, bringing it into subjection. He is the soldier who trains and prepares fastidiously. These are two callings which require some of the most disciplined lives. The Christian is disciplined; and he perseveres.

The Word of God says, "Where there is no revelation (or prophetic vision), the people cast off restraint." (Pro. 29:18). To "cast off restraint" is obviously to lack self-control. Vision allows us to live for something, and that is always more powerful than simply avoiding something. You can avoid sex before you are married, or you can have a vision for what a life of sexual purity and personal integrity can sow into a marriage. Vision is always more powerful than prohibition.

If we break self-control into its two component parts, discipline and vision, then it is easy to see how self-control is all about passion. It is our passion for God which causes us to choose to spend time with Him rather than watch TV, or causes us to read the bible rather than some other book. And it is a passion for Him that is our primary source of vision. All vision flows from this. He is our Great Vision.

The best thing about fruit is that one day we get to eat it. And eating the fruit of self-control is indeed a blessing. The pain and humiliation that so often accompanies sin is no longer the fruit that we eat. Rather, the fruit of self-control, carefully pruned and attended to by our Vinedresser (Our Father, Jn. 15), the product of our intimate relationship with our Vine (Jesus), and the result of the life-giving sap of the Holy-Spirit, is ours to enjoy and share. Self-control, like all fruit, is not only for our benefit but also for those closest to us. They too reap the blessing of our attention to the work of God in our lives and our yielding to Him.

Repentence

“For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: what diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.” (2 Cor. 7:10-11).



Godly repentance is a blessing. Being sorry is not enough. Plenty people are sorry for what they do or decisions they make, but don’t change their actions. While sorrow is an experience that motivates repentance, there is godly sorrow and the sorrow of the world. The one leads to salvation, life and joy, the other to death. Both are “sorrow”, but their ends are very different. We need to make sure we end up on the right side of this sorrow. But how can we know what kind of sorrow we have? The key is in the fruit that it produces, or our response to it.

Paul explains the results of godly sorrow or the characteristics of repentance: “what diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication!” The Corinthians were eager to clear themselves of their sin! Worldly sorrow is the product of two things; firstly, sin always has consequences. This is the principle of sowing and reaping. “If you sow to the flesh you will reap corruption” (Gal. 6:8). If you sow sin you reap sorrow. Secondly, sin produces sorrow when people are found out and their sin comes into the open (provided their conscience is working properly). If this is where sorrow remains, it is worldly sorrow that leads to death.

Conversely, Godly sorrow results in action, not just emotion. If a person is still trying to cover up their sin, still making excuses and not taking responsibility for it, he has not arrived at repentance. If a person is still trying to save face, he is not walking in repentance. Repentance is always meted out in humility. Pride is the root of sin, and attempts to save face; humility is a fruit of the Spirit, acknowledges wrong, and asks for forgiveness, both from God and the person or people wronged. This requires some “vehement desire” and some “zeal”, for a person must choose humility and reconciliation over saving face and self-righteousness. Sometimes the hardest part of repentance is approaching the people we have wronged, acknowledging that we have wronged them and asking for their forgiveness. But without this we are still walking in unrepentance. There must be the active rejection of sin and embracing of holiness.



Repentance results in salvation; life, joy and peace. Repentance is therefore a gift from God, for “the goodness of God leads to repentance.” (Rom. 2:4).

“For as many as I love I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.” (Rev. 3:19).

Let’s be zealous for what God is zealous for.

The Faithful Character of God

(Click on this image for full size view)

God is not a man that He should lie. Nor is He directed by emotion or circumstance. His character governs all that He does. It is possible for us to act out of character. We can go through a hard time. We can struggle. We can have a bad day. We can feel down. These emotions and the circumstances of our lives may dictate how we act. God is not like this. He never wakes up on the wrong side of the bed. He NEVER acts out of character. God epitomizes a faithful character.

"This is a faithful saying:
For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him.
If we endure, we shall also reign with Him.
If we deny Him, He also will deny us.
If we are faithless, He remains faithful;
He cannot deny Himself."(2 Tim. 2:11-13)

The reason this is a faithful saying is because of the faithful character of God. If God was up one day and down the next, then this statement would be true one day and irrelevant the next. That means that we would have no assurance that we would live with Him, reign with Him, that we should take His warnings seriously or that we can count on His faithfulness in spite of ourselves. This same uncertainty would extend to all His promises. A promise is only worth something if the one who promised it is faithful. If God were not faithful then our entire faith would be reduced to a vague hope, expressed in "ifs," "buts" and "maybes" rather than the certainty and assurance of which we have become accustomed. God's faithfulness is the very heart of our faith. Without it, all His other characteristics (love, mercy, patience, righteousness, holiness, etc.) would be uncertain.

"God is not a man, that He should lie,
Nor a son of man, that He should repent.
Has He said, and will He not do?
And has He spoken, and will He not make it good?"(Numbers 23:19)

We need to be imitators of God. No one places confidence in another person who lacks a faithful character, or a person who is driven more by emotion and circumstance than principle. That is because all men know the fallibility and variance of their own emotions and rightly conclude that if we allow these to dictate how we should live, we will not be stable, faithful people. We need to be people of principle rather than convenience. Convenience is the path of least resistance, and sometimes that resistance is internal. Sometimes it is easier to act out of convenience than out of a commitment to godliness and holiness; a commitment to the Word of God. Principle must supersede circumstance and emotion. Sometimes our emotions confirm our principles; sometimes we act out of principle in defiance of our emotions. This is a faithful character.

"But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes', and your 'No', 'No'." (Matthew 5:37).

God has made covenants with Israel, and He will keep them. If He doesn't, our entire faith, based on His character, is worthless. But God has shown Himself to be more than faithful. We can see God's continual faithfulness to His people, Israel, and the unfolding of His prophetic Word. In these days, the days that He chose for us to live, we are witnessing the fulfilling of His promises to Israel. God is saying through His dealings with this people, "I am fulfilling My Word. I am faithful."

Let's trust in His faithful character. Let's live lives that give evidence to this trust and evidence to His continually faithful character. Let us live by faith; faith in the character of God.