What has been your character transformation in 2020? It is my belief that character is an ever-transforming part of who we are. Your character is in a continuous state of change. Factors affecting character include your age, life experiences, acquired knowledge, and relationships. As we age and gain more life experiences our character should reflect the impacts of those experiences on us personally and in how we treat others.

Would you agree with me, that as believers in Christ our character transformation should always be pointing toward greater Christlikeness? As we enter the third month of 2021 our character should reflect a greater sense of who Christ is and the great phenomena He has provided than we had entering March 2020.

Our goal and outcome every year should be to be more Christlike than the previous year. After all is this not discipleship? To be more Christlike requires a greater in-depth study of God’s Word, intense time with God, getting to know Him. It will always require heart, mind and, soul searching, asking God to reveal and remove those areas that have kept us from serving Him whole-heartedly, surrendering ALL.

The dictionary defines character as the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual. I believe this definition is incomplete. The mental deals with the brain and cognitive application. The moral deals with the heart and the seat of emotion. The portion missing from this dictionary definition is the spiritual. We all have a soul and as the mental deals with the mind, the moral with the heart, so the spiritual relates directly to the soul. The mental, moral, and spiritual makes up the complete being for each of us. Without considering the spiritual input into our character, are we not incomplete?

As believers, Disciples of Jesus Christ, the continual development of our spiritual being will impact our mental and our moral qualities. To ignore or slack off the spiritual maturation in any given year could be likened to eating only sugar for one year. The consequences will bring about serious health issues, including hospitalization or death. You would not do that to your body, why would you consider doing it to your soul?

This is one reason to stay connected to a local church, a local body of believers all working together to grow mentally, morally, and spiritually. Serving together with others in the body of Christ provides greater avenues of resources to study and grow into Christlikeness. Being part of discipleship small groups is great for the mental learning and moral practicing of the spiritual teachings.

These small groups should not only meet together to study but should be actively and regularly serving together in the community. Christians who come together to study and then to practice their discipleship to the lost community are the believers who will experience growth in all three character areas; mental, moral, and spiritual.

Attending church does not make you a believer or a growing disciple. If you desire to follow God, you need to be actively engaged in a character-building, disciple-making small study group. This is what builds the three areas of character.

Are you involved in any discipleship character-building groups? If not, what can you do this week to find or start one? If you are engaged in one, how has your character improved this past year?