Character

DEVOTION
ROMANS
CHARACTER
Rom 5:3-5
3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
NIV
Indeed, this is at the front of any meditation upon these words; it is not about my life, but his. To apply any of this to me, the suffering has to be because of Jesus, not because of me. This suffering is better described as pressure put upon me is some way, such as in Matt 5:11-12 “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.” There is also another condition in which this pressure is applied such as in James 1:2-3 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,(or temptations) knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. Under these kinds of conditions it gives me the opportunity to stand firm and not waver in my convictions regarding Jesus and if I can do that it will prove what kind of person I really am. Not my personality, but my character, the person I am inside, the one only God can truly see. I must ask myself am I really the same person no matter what the circumstances I find myself in. Am I the same person when I am with unbelievers as I am when I am with fellow believers? Does my personality reflect my character, or does my character reflect my personality? Does the real me stand up all the time, no matter the outcome?