Daily Digest: Capstone Capsule

“Giving all diligence, add to your faith VIRTUE, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control…” – 2 Peter 1: 5b-6a

Every Believer has a fundamental need of CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT for IMPACT:"But also for this very reason, Giving all diligence, add to your faith VIRTUE, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love” (2 Pet.1: 5-7). Character does not form by itself; it must be diligently developed. As the standard of the world gets lower and lower, Believers in Christ need to develop character more than ever in order to resist being conformed to the different molds of this world (Rom.12:2).

Character comes from discipline of the flesh: “But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified” (1Cor.9:27). There are no short cuts to making God-glorifying Impact. Nobody can amount to anything worthwhile in life who does not live a disciplined life. Character development involves being disciplined with the time to sleep, what and how to eat, how to invest, save, or spend money. We are to live in such a way as to attract acceptance of Christ rather than repudiation through living like unbelievers. Our lives should reflect Christ’s Live and Character.

Character is so vital in the Journey to Greatness and Impact. A father who lacks good character has no example to show his children. These young ones emulate the weakness and deficiencies in the character of parents, other adults, and role models. Children will always follow the example we set for them; hence, we must aim to produce a generation of men and women of character. We must realize that good character will open doors of blessings, while bad character will shut manty doors!

We must acknowledge the need for Character Development. There is no way to develop character without denying oneself worldly pleasures. Becoming a man or woman of character takes time, dedication, and self-examination: “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourself, that Jesus Christ is in you? – unless indeed you are disqualified?” (2 Cor.13: 5). Next, is to resolve to deal with weaknesses in one’s character. God has given every believer all things pertaining to life and godliness. We have all it takes to develop matured Christian character as we follow the Lord.

Character Development is the responsibility of every Believer, through the inner discipline of the Holy Spirit, repentance from sin, and faith in Christ Jesus. There must be a resolution to overcome all fleshly weaknesses such as: anger, anxiety, adultery, envy, slander, strife, covetousness, greed, gluttony, unforgiveness, impatience, greed, jealousy, slander, and other vices.