The Virtues of Romans 5:3-4 – Part 2: Character

“We even take pride in our problems, because we know that trouble produces endurance,  endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (CEB).

Character

Paul says that endurance produces “character” and the word for “character” is dokimē which means the quality of being approved.[1] I think it was Nancy Regan who said that, “I’m a lot like a teabag, you have to put me in hot water to see how strong I really am.” That is a way of saying that hardship shows the true nature of our personality and the natural proclivity of our desires. Character is something that is shaped by external forces, but also something that is cultivated by choice. While elements of our personality are no doubt influenced by both nature and nurture, there are traits to our person that we consciously decide to grow. If the digital age has taught us anything it is that allowing people to say and do things anonymously is the surest sign to the true nature of their moral character. As Christians we are to have a godly, holy, and Christ-like character. Some of the wisest words ever given to me when I was a still relatively new believer come from the (then) young pastor of the first church I ever attended. Pastor Craig Corkill once told me:

If you sow a thought, you reap an act.
If you sow an act, you reap a habit.
If you sow a habit, you reap a character.
If you sow a character, then you reap a destiny.

Those words have stuck with me and I hope they stick with you too. Christians should sow thoughts, acts, and habits that will produce a character worthy of an eternal inheritance. Then perhaps we will have the type of character that is genuinely approveable before God just as Paul exhorted Timothy: “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (2 Tim 2:15).