Having a Christian Character

Character:  the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual.
"running away was not in keeping with her character"

synonyms:personality, nature, disposition, temperament, temper, mentality, makeup

The above definition states that character is distinctive to an individual.  If this is the case then how can we have a Christian Character?  Wouldn't that make us all the same?  No - no more so than saying that God creating us in His image makes us all the same.  We are all uniquely gifted, wonderfully made, and special to God.  Our spirit is like His spirit and yearns for His spirit.  We have a void that can only be filled by God because we were made in His image.  

In like manner, our character is unique but longs to be like Christ.  I believe our character comes a great deal from our minds so to have a Christian Character would be to be like-minded with Christ.  

Let's look at the synonyms for character.  The personality, nature, disposition, etc. is in every word that Christ spoke and in every action. 

Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Philippians 2:8

Christ was humble and He was kind.  He didn't mock people or judge them though He certainly had the right to.

And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her. John 8:7

I think we can safely say that He was not shy, but He was also not boastful. His nature was to be kind and loving, His disposition was even, not easily angered.  

Each of us is made up of a variety of personality traits.  Some of us are extroverts, some introverts.  Some of us are quick to judge and like to make our opinions known.  Others don't like conflict and prefer to only hear good news. 

Now we have to take our personalities and mold them into Christ's character in our own unique way, using our personality traits to follow Christ's behavior on a day to day basis.  This will be more difficult for some than for others I think.

I know that I get very upset when people are seemingly illogical. It may seem trite but I need to ask myself what would Jesus say or do in this situation?   To be like-minded is to have the same thoughts and actions that Christ would have and to do that, we, as sinful nature humans, need to stop and think before we act.  

Our character is being judged by the world.  If we are to represent Christ to a lost and dying people, we must work very hard to think as Christ would.  I am sure that we will not be able to accomplish this but with the help of His Holy Spirit, we can always show a better way. We must try or those around us, those who ridicule us and judge us, those who are seeking for something positive in their lives, will never come to us for the answer.  



Your Christian character might just save a soul.  Let's work very hard on developing a Christ-like character within our own unique personalities.  

Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Matthew 7:3




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