Child development
is a major focus of our society; so much so that the
term “child development’ returns over 226 million articles on the web. Even in the church, much of our efforts are
directed to our children and students in developing moral character, teaching
the ethics, Christian principles and values that are so important as children
move into adolescence and early adulthood.
However,
character development is not supposed to stop in our 20s. Quite the contrary, almost everyone I know
understands how much of their character has been continuously developing as
they continue to grow and learn and mature.
Every day we make
choices. Character can be defined as the
decisions that have been formulated and secured long before the choice is
presented. Joseph showed that in the
decision that he had made not to violate himself and offend the Lord and his
earthly master when Potiphar’s wife came to tempt him. In the same way, Daniel “resolved not to
defile himself” by eating at the King’s table.
It’s our mission
in life to continually develop our character.
The Apostles and disciples of Jesus were merely human. Their character was flawed, they argued over
who was greater and were jealous of each other. However over time, through the indwelling of
the Holy Spirit, these men and women became strong and victorious. The Lord had built their character through
example and through experiences including suffering. In Romans chapter 5, the Apostle Paul
explains the process starting with our coming to faith:
“ Therefore, since we have been justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we
have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we
rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our
sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces
character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame,
because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who
has been given to us.”
When we realize
how much we have to learn, how much our character needs to be developed we can resolve to
keep our eyes and our heart on our personal character development. In the Book of Hebrews we are encouraged,
“Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles,
and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our
eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith"
