"...suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope..." Romans 5:3-4.
Recently, our congregation has begun a focus on reconciliation. It's a focus that has a lot of bearing on our lives, since we all find ourselves in conflict and disagreements quite often in life. Anytime we have conflict, we have a need for reconciliation. It could be for something as small as which TV show to watch, or as large as when a family is torn apart by conflict. Reconciliation is needed to restore the relationships that are injured when conflict enters.
Over the years, I've thought about this topic a lot. And one of the aspects of conflict and reconciliation involves the building of character. Now, character is an interesting thing. For starters, I'm going to use the word character to mean that inner self-assurance that we have which enables us to stand firm in what we believe in. In other words, character happens when we know who we are and have the awareness of ourselves to stand firm for what we believe in, or to stand up for what is right, even in the face of disagreement.
To put it simply, this kind of character doesn't just happen. Well, it may be a God-given gift to some, but for most people, we have to have such character built up in ourselves. And if part of our Christian life is to develop a life of character in those who hold the faith, we do need to ask ourselves how such character is developed.
One conclusion I have drawn over the years is that character does not really develop when things are going smoothly in life. The building and development of character seems to happen most when we face difficulties and challenges in life. It's very much like what St. Paul wrote in the verses above, from his letter to the Roman Christians. Suffering produces endurance, as we learn how to endure that which we'd rather not face, and that endurance produces character. Character is produced as we learn how to endure the tough times of life, and how to handle them in ways that fit with God's will and design. Character is created when tough times arise, and not so much when life is going well and easy.
In a way, character develops through conflict. How we learn to handle conflict will say much about how our character develops. As we begin to overcome our natural tendencies, and as we seek to follow God's will and design in conflict, character is created. Not easy, not at all. But it is much like the refining fire. Only as the wrong, sinful approaches to conflict are burned off do we see character purified. It will always be incomplete in this life, but character can be refined to shine more as we face life's difficulties and challenges.
Recently, our congregation has begun a focus on reconciliation. It's a focus that has a lot of bearing on our lives, since we all find ourselves in conflict and disagreements quite often in life. Anytime we have conflict, we have a need for reconciliation. It could be for something as small as which TV show to watch, or as large as when a family is torn apart by conflict. Reconciliation is needed to restore the relationships that are injured when conflict enters.
Over the years, I've thought about this topic a lot. And one of the aspects of conflict and reconciliation involves the building of character. Now, character is an interesting thing. For starters, I'm going to use the word character to mean that inner self-assurance that we have which enables us to stand firm in what we believe in. In other words, character happens when we know who we are and have the awareness of ourselves to stand firm for what we believe in, or to stand up for what is right, even in the face of disagreement.
To put it simply, this kind of character doesn't just happen. Well, it may be a God-given gift to some, but for most people, we have to have such character built up in ourselves. And if part of our Christian life is to develop a life of character in those who hold the faith, we do need to ask ourselves how such character is developed.
One conclusion I have drawn over the years is that character does not really develop when things are going smoothly in life. The building and development of character seems to happen most when we face difficulties and challenges in life. It's very much like what St. Paul wrote in the verses above, from his letter to the Roman Christians. Suffering produces endurance, as we learn how to endure that which we'd rather not face, and that endurance produces character. Character is produced as we learn how to endure the tough times of life, and how to handle them in ways that fit with God's will and design. Character is created when tough times arise, and not so much when life is going well and easy.
In a way, character develops through conflict. How we learn to handle conflict will say much about how our character develops. As we begin to overcome our natural tendencies, and as we seek to follow God's will and design in conflict, character is created. Not easy, not at all. But it is much like the refining fire. Only as the wrong, sinful approaches to conflict are burned off do we see character purified. It will always be incomplete in this life, but character can be refined to shine more as we face life's difficulties and challenges.
No comments:
Post a Comment