In this lesson, we’re talking about Character. Character is the way someone thinks, feels, and behaves. So thereby it is truly the state of the wholeness of our mind and the culmination of this series on The Mind. As we have come to find out, it’s what we think that forms our beliefs; our beliefs become our words; those words bring forth action; the actions create habits; and finally, our habits define our character. The bible says that Jesus is the head of the church and rightly so, but truly the Lord has spoken to us through these lessons as a reminder that He is to be the head of our life. If we have Him as our head then truly our feet will follow wherever He goes. 

In the very first lesson The Mind Part One we read 1 Corinthians 2. Let’s read verses 11-16  again.

I Corinthians 2:11-16

NLT – No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. 12 And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. 13 When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths. 14 But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. 15 Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others. 16 For, “Who can know the LORD’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?” But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.

KJV – For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. 16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

Have you progressed in thinking more in the way God wants you to think? Are you living your life with the mind of Christ?

In the last lesson on Habits, we left off with this:

Romans 12:2 NLT – Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.  KJV – And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. “When you exchange your habits of this world for habits that glorify the King of kings, it will forever mold your character into the image of Jesus Christ!”

Have you been successful in this endeavor over these last weeks?

What if any habits have you tried to change and exchange for ones that glorify God?

If so, you’re on the way! Continue to LET the Lord shape you, mold you, and make you through His Word, through His Spirit, into who HE has truly created you to be. Now, let’s talk about CHARACTER.

We all know the difference between real, wholesome, nutritious food that fills, satisfies and nourishes us and food that we have literally labeled as what we call “junk food.” What has been created for “convenience.” Real food is God given animal, plant, and/or minerals. The perfect fuel sources for the body He has designed and created. The other “junk” is man made from mostly chemicals and “flavorings,” with a small amount of natural ingredients. The convenience foods have no nutritional value for us. In fact they are a detriment to our health. The junk of this world is no substitute for the things of God. Likewise, there’s no substitute for the quality of character that the Lord desires for you. You will find that you can only discover who you really are, when you choose to say good-bye to the fake. You will only find out who that is in relationship with Jesus Christ. 

1 John 5:4-5 NKJV –  For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world–our faith. 5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

1 John 5:4-5 NLT – 4 For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. 5 And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

Humanity, in our sinful character state, has a way of taking what God has given and created, and contorting it to our image for our pleasure or convenience. Case in point– square or other shaped watermelon.

Why is this a thing? Better yet, why is this a thing that cost upwards of $200?? Mankind has a way of really screwing things up when we lean on our own understanding. Case in point:

In the country of Borneo in the early 1950s, the island was facing an outbreak of malaria. The World Health Organization (WHO) decided to spray the island with a powerful insecticide called DDT. It did indeed successfully kill off the malaria carrying mosquitoes, but it also killed parasitic wasps whose prey were thatch-eating caterpillars. With the wasps exterminated to keep the  caterpillars in check, they grossly multiplied and ate the villagers thatch roofs, which caused them to collapse suddenly. As if homeless villagers weren’t bad enough, their pet cats began to die. Geckoes ate the poisoned insects and the cats ate the poisoned geckoes! Once the cats were dead, the local rat population then exploded. Diseased rats spread typhus and plague across Borneo causing massive health repercussions and human deaths. The “brilliant” solution came in 1960 and was called Operation Cat Drop. The WHO parachute dropped cats into Borneo from planes overhead. Reports vary from it being 23 cats with others saying as many as 14,000; but you get the point. DDT itself is so dangerous to human health its effects are felt into future generations. It was banned in the U.S. in 1972 by the EPA. When it was created in the 1950s however, it was deemed as “benefactor of all humanity” and advertisements exclaimed, “DDT Is Good for Me!” Our human inventions and intervention can cause big problems when we take matters into our own hands and out of God’s. 

I can personally say that my sin and my choices caused decades long delays in GOD’s plans and purposes for my life. My character was drastically “rewritten” from traits GOD desired for me, to instead include devastating and disastrous traits that Satan and sin groomed for me. 

JESUS is the Author and Finisher of our faith. “I am the first and the last.” Therefore it is HE who is writing our story and not we ourselves. If we must give account of every action we have done and every word we have spoken, [Romans 14:12; 1 Peter 4:5] it will be measured by HIS TRUTH.  We have free will to choose, and certainly we do choose on a daily basis whether we will follow His ways and the Word of God. We choose whether we will live our life for Jesus Christ, or to do what we want, how we want, and when we want. And listen friend, you can’t choose to follow Him one day and forsake Him the next. That’s being lukewarm and He will vomit you out of His mouth because it disgusts Him and makes Him sick. YOU’RE ALL IN OR YOU’RE ALL OUT. THAT’S IT. Doing what you want is IMPULSIVENESS because you’re making up the rules for yourself as we go along. Character is defined by traits. These are things that literally describe you. How you engage with others, what kinds of decisions you make, how you think, what you believe, what kind of things you say, how you act, you know… WHO YOU ARE at your core. 

Character is usually identified as “good” or “bad;” “positive” or “negative.” In life there may be “gray area” where these can mix and blend, but in the eyes of God, there is no gray. Only that which is good (like Him, in His image) and that which is bad (unlike Him, not in His image) which came as a result of sin. 

The truth is all the way back in Genesis 6:5:

And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (KJV)

The LORD observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. (NLT)

James 1:18 summarizes it further:  

(NLT) 18 Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. 15 These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death. 

(KJV) 18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

JESUS CAME TO GIVE US LIFE! He had every sin ever committed and thought of upon Him at the cross. Jesus took my punishment which is DEATH. Sin is a DEATH PENALTY. At the very least, if say you’re lily white and think you never committed a single sin, or say you’ve been saved since you were born, you can and will be convicted on Judgment Day for killing the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, WITHOUT HIS ATONING BLOOD on your heart. Without asking HIM for forgiveness for the sin you were BORN into, you are an UNSAVED SINNER. Your sin killed the Son of God. My sin killed the Son of God. He came so that instead of dying in our sin, we can CHOOSE to be washed by His perfect blood and be forgiven, born again and created to be something new! 

Hebrews 13:20-21 KJV

Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21 Make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom [be] glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Hebrews 13:20-21 NLT 

Now may the God of peace–who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, and ratified an eternal covenant with His blood — 21 may he equip you with all you need for doing His will. May He produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to Him. All glory to Him forever and ever! Amen.

His perfection. His will. His sight. His production. His pleasure. Not yours. 

Below is a short list of character traits. 

If Jesus is writing this story, how has your sin dictated your character and how you’re written?

“GOOD” CHARACTER TRAITS	“BAD” CHARACTER TRAITS
COURAGEOUS: brave/ fearless LOYAL: devoted and faithful HONEST: truthful KIND GENEROUS RESILIENT HUMBLE PATIENT AMBITIOUS DILIGENT WISE	COWARDLY: lacking courage DISLOYAL: failing to be devoted DISHONEST: liar CALLOUS SELFISH STUBBORN ARROGANT IMPULSIVE LAZY APATHETIC IGNORANT

How have you treated the Author of your faith through yours? 

How have you regarded His Word? 

Here’s a further list of 100 negative traits, for a quick scroll. 

You can’t be a loyal cynic, and it be considered a positive trait. The scale is weighted for the negative. If you said you were a kind know-it-all, again the bad outweighs the good. Any good is always outweighed by the bad when it comes to character. If I said, “Oh he was a grumpy and generous man,” you don’t care how generous he was, he was a grump. No one likes to be around a grump. It gets old real fast. 

How easily is our character described and destroyed with so many of these! All of them are based out of sin and fear. The summation of our life story as a whole will come down to this: 

BELIEVER or UNBELIEVER

FAITHFUL or FAITHLESS

FEARLESS or FEARFUL

FRUITFUL OR UNFRUITFUL

Whether you have realized it or not, these factors have been dictating how your story is written. The bible says in Revelation 21:7-8 NKJV – He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. 8 But the cowardly (fearful) and unbelieving (faithless), abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

Do you really understand what’s on the line here?  

Let’s look at how we ought to be regarding Him if we claim to be His. 

ESV – Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 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. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 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.

KJV – Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only [so], but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

Though I haven’t ever watched them, I’m familiar with the basics of the movie series, The Fast and the Furious. I’m familiar with the concept of drifting, which is intentionally oversteering and either using the clutch or the handbrake to lock up the rear wheels through the entirety of going around a turn or curve. The vehicle experiences a loss of traction, but there’s no loss of control. We tend to do this so often with God! This is a race; and there is a speed and order to the things He directs us and expects us to do. Far too often, instead of trusting Him in the process of the turns and curves of this life, we yank the handbrake, lock up those rear tires and expect to drift our way through the suffering and tribulation. Suffering is part of this experience!

Phil 3:8-10 NLT Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with Him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!

The King James bible refers to it as “the fellowship of His sufferings.” The disciples who were with Jesus at the Last Supper before His death all went with Him to the Garden of Gethsemane. Gethsemane means “place of (the) oil press.” Judas, of course, had run off to get the men to arrest Jesus. So there were at least eleven disciples left; but it was only Peter, James, and John that Jesus asked to come with Him to pray. These are the same three that were with Him when He was transfigured before them and they saw, for a moment, His glory. It was there in Gethsemane that He was in great sorrow and His spirit was heavy. It was there where He fell on His face in anguish and cried out to the Father. It was there where He prayed with such fervency, that as He sweat, the tiny blood vessels burst around the sweat glands. It was there where the ones He loved dearly, Peter, James, and John, kept falling asleep, unable to pray with Him for even one hour. That alone would induce suffering, surely paining His heart. 

Instead of embracing suffering to know Him more, we grab that handbrake and pull, losing  traction in closeness to Him and usurping control away from Him. Our character shifts away from God and His attributes and we find ourselves focusing on self. As Christians we ought to  KNOW that SUFFERING is the very thing that will produce EXACTLY what HE wants in US– {PATIENCE (ENDURANCE), EXPERIENCE (CHARACTER), and HOPE}. When we spiritually drift, we steer towards everything wrong: bitterness about our troubles, presumptuous and snappy in the struggle, careless, thoughtless, heartless, and very un- Christ like because we feel our suffering is unfair and unjust. Suffering is often what sifts out the ungodly characteristics from the godly in us. If this is game of checkers, who are you letting “king” you?

Jesus, the King of kings, experienced far greater pain in every way so much more than we could ever imagine. We experience pain, whether emotional, physical, mental or a combination of all three– which is ANGUISH, and we react in ways that are often nothing like Him. Pain is our oil press. What should come forth is the purest oil of the finest quality of the highest price.

As we close out our unit on The Mind, really think on this: your character is directly tied to your heart and determines who you live for.

Romans 10:9-11

NKJV – If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”

NLT – If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. 11 As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.”

What changes will you be asking God to make in your mind and heart to better serve Him?

I know I have several. May we all have more of the mind of Christ tomorrow than we did today.

-CC