Glorious Way Church

Building Godly Character | Selena Greiner

• Selena Greiner

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This message focuses on the importance of developing strong, Christ-centered character in everyday life. Using biblical examples, it highlights how integrity, faithfulness, and obedience shape a believer’s ability to stand firm through trials. Listeners are encouraged to let the Word of God refine their actions, decisions, and relationships so that their character reflects Jesus in both private and public life.

SPEAKER_00:

And for a while now, we've been teaching uh the junior hires uh building godly character. So tonight that's what I'm gonna teach on building godly character. How many of y'all know it's important? Uh, you know, our our character matters. Who we are, it it matters. And so um, I've heard this saying before when the leader gets better, everybody else gets better. And so you may uh not see yourself as a leader, but if you have Jesus, you you are called to be a leader, you are called to lead other people. The first person that you need to lead lead is yourself, right? Before we can lead anybody else to Jesus, we lead ourselves first. And so um we may not be able to control the outcome of situations, but we can control systems, we can control disciplines, we can control habits. There are things that we can do uh in our lives that we have control over. And so um, so we can focus on the root of our character. My first scripture is Romans 11, 16 in the Passion Translation. Romans 11, 16 in the Passion Translation says, uh, if the roots of a tree are holy and set apart, and this is the second uh part of that verse, when the roots, if the roots of a tree are holy and set apart, so too will be their branches. So many, so many of the times we focus on the fruit, on the branches. And how many of y'all know the branches are connected to the tree, and the tree has a root system? And so here the scripture says, if the root system, what's what's going on on the down below, you know, usually we can't see the roots. There we day way down deep. If you're thinking of that in the natural, a tree, uh, a lot of times you can't see the roots. And so here he's saying, hey, if the roots, if what's going down on the inside of us is holy and it's set apart, so are the branches, right? And so we want to make sure that um our character, our attitude, the why of uh how we live life and what why we do what we do is holy and it's set apart. And a lot of times that can get tainted. Circumstances, life happens, things going on. Um, and so we want to make sure that we keep those roots nourished, that we keep those roots holy and set apart. My next scripture is Romans 5, 3 through 5 in the New Living Translation. Says, we can rejoice too when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. There's so much in these, just these couple of verses. And this hope will not lead to disappointment, for we know how dearly God loves us because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with love. And so here he's saying that endurance, that's gonna lead to strength. You know, when we're in, when we don't just throw in the towel, we give up easily. Uh no, God wants us to endure some things. That's what's gonna build our character. That right? And character strengthens our confident hope of salvation, right? And that hope, the hope, what hope? The hope in the world, the hope in men, mankind, the hope, you know, one once upon a time. No, the hope in our salvation, the hope in Jesus, the hope that we have uh that this life is not our own, that we're just passing on through, the hope of Jesus, the hope that we've been redeemed, that we've been saved, uh, we've been bought with a high price. So there's that hope. And so we have to hold on to that hope. It doesn't lead to disappointment, right? But if you're holding on to other things, right? What it looks like, um, the outcome of that situation, that a lot of times that's gonna lead to disappointment. So our hope isn't in the natural, our hope isn't in uh what man does and what man doesn't do. Our hope is in Jesus. And so that is our confidence, right? And so that's that's where our character is built. That's where we get strengthened. And um, and so that's so good that that, hey, and then at the end, the last verse, he's given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. And so we weren't left as orphans, we weren't left as just trying to figure it out on our own. He gave us the Holy Spirit so he can fill our hearts. Isn't that good? With his love. And so in the passion, in in Romans 5 4, in the Passion translation, it says like this, and patient endurance will refine our character. It refines our character, and proven character leads us back to hope. And so, patient endurance, but so many of the times we don't see it, we we get disappointed, things don't turn out the way we had planned, you know, and then we start asking questions. Well, is there really a God? Oh, well, why did this happen? Questions, all of that questions, that's just in the enemy's territory, that's in his arena. Like, we don't question. Uh, we may not have have the answers, but we serve a God who is the answer, right? And so we don't have to have all of the blanks filled in in life. We our hope just is is in God. Like God, if you said it in your word, I'm gonna believe it. I'm gonna take a hold of your word and and pull it close to my heart, and and that's where my confident, that's that's where my confident expectation is in you, not in the circumstance, not what so-and-so said, not what it looks like on the news, but it's in you. And so that is how we build godly character, right? It's again, it's going back to the roots, going back to that first scripture. If the roots of a tree are holy and set apart, so are the branches. But so many times people just want to, you know, I I think of a little children's church craft, because I'm in children's church. Sheree's here, she knows about all the crafts we do, all the taping and the gluing and the cutting, and and you know, we can have this beautiful tree on a piece of paper, and the kids can glue the branches on there, tape the branches on there. And a lot of times in life we try to we try to put things, you know, oh well, let me just try to put that on me, or or let me try to to to walk in love, or let me try the no, it it starts with the root system, right? It starts with deep down inside, like what's going on on the inside, right? Because you can try to put all of these things on you, but and it may last for a while, that tape. You know, you get some good duct tape, that good duct tape, that'll last. But over time, the character comes out, right? Over time, those roots will be seen. And so we want to make sure that we keep our heart right. We want to make sure that um uh that we're building godly character by reading his word, by praying much in the Holy Spirit. Uh wrote this down godly character is an instant, but cultivated over time, right? So a lot of times we're just like, it's quit. I want, I want to just do the right thing. I want to just, you know, at all times, but you gotta cultivate it, right? Over time. You gotta things, you know, you you're you're dealt with a situation, something happens, what are you gonna do? Right? Are you gonna are we gonna keep our mouth shut? Are we gonna gossip? Are we gonna do the right thing? Are we gonna have bad thoughts towards that person? So in those moments, it's really important to do the right thing, to choose your spirit man over your flesh. That's where you grow, right? Not like later on, I'm gonna wait till the big thing happens. No, the big thing is right now in the little things. It's what you do in those little daily habits that um that builds godly character over time. John Maxwell said, Um, good character is more uh to be praised than outstanding talent. So you can have all the talent in the world, but if you don't have good character, what good is that? It's not good. God wants us to have uh good, godly character. And so I have a couple of points. And these are just highlights because this whole, again, we're doing a series on uh on these, and we're taking each character in junior high, each characteristic like courage and boldness and humility. And so I'm just doing like the highlights for you guys. So to build godly character, you will need number one, you need a foundation of faith. And so not only in yourself, but faith in God. Faith in God. And uh, when I was making my notes, I thought of the song Um Firm Foundation, you know, rain came, wind blew, but my house was built on what? On him, on you, right? My house was built on Jesus. The rain came, the wind blew, it looked bad, but our foundation is should be on Jesus, not on people's opinions, not on our past, not what people have done to us, but on the word of God. That is our firm foundation. And so you want to make sure that your faith is built not in yourself, not in your own works, but in God and God alone. Hebrews 11 6 in the New Living Translation says, It is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. So it's not just a show, right, but it's it's with sincerity that you're really pursuing God in every area of your life, on the daily, that you're pursuing him, that you're that your faith is growing, your faith in him, your hope, um, that you're not wavering in your faith, even when things don't quite seem like they pan out, but you you keep on speaking the word, you keep on testifying, you keep on singing psalms and and hymns and spiritual songs. And so, so number two, you're gonna need perseverance. To build godly character, you need some grit, some perseverance. Uh, when the going gets tough, the tough gets going. No throwing in the towel, no, I'm quitting, right? No, longevity, we're here for the long haul. And still smiling at the end of it all. Right? Because you can say, Yes, I persevered, but then you're bitter about it. To me, no, you didn't, right? Because you can have every testimony in the world, and God did this and God did that, but then you see bitterness in their life, and then you see anger, and then there's things in there, well, God is faithful, but seems along the way that you got that your character got a little flawed, that you got a little mad, that you got a little bitter, that it did something to you. And so you want to make sure that in life that you persevere, but it it doesn't, again, I've said this before, life can either make you bitter or it can make you better. And so at the end of your life, right? You want to make sure to keep that you're still smiling, that you still have joy, that you still love people, right? That you're not bitter against uh, you know, sometimes people get get bitter, whatever the oh, you know, men can do with the men. I'm bitter against all men. Men just don't, hey, and it can go the other way. Oh, that woman. I don't trust anyone. Like, seriously, like you, that's just the enemy's tactic, and you see it in the world. You see it in church, and you see it in the world. People get hurt, people get abused, people get trampled on, and uh, and then they put up these walls where you know what, I got hurt though by those people, or by that that kind of people, right? So, like now I'm gonna put up these. No, God wants us to love people, God wants us to open up our hearts and to love everybody. And so perseverance, again, um, it's not just human human effort of just trying to do it, but God gives us the grace to do it. He gives us the ability. If he said in his word to be bold, if he told Joshua, be bold, be courageous, hey, you we can do it, right? We can do it. Hebrews 10, uh, 36 in the NIV says, you need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. When? When you've done your own thing, uh-uh. That's not what it says. When you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. Everybody wants the promise. Everybody's all about I want, I want that, I want the stuff, I want the desires of my heart, I want it all. But here the word says you need to persevere. So when you have done his will for your life, then you'll receive what he has promised. Because there's lots of things he has promised for us. He's promised health, he's promised healing, he's promised a good night's rest, he's promised uh not anxiety, but peace in our heart. And so all of the things in his word he has promised, but we need to persevere in doing the will of God. James 1 12 in the NIV says, Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial, because having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. Let me read that again. James 1 12 in the NIV says, Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. And so here he's saying, You're blessed when you've been persecuted, when you're under trial, when you're going through things, having stood the test, right? You'll receive the crown of life that God's promised us. And we love him, right? So he's promised us some things. I mean, just look at Paul in the Bible, like he faced all kinds of things. He paid faced beatings in prison, yet he proclaimed the gospel, right? Wasn't always that way. He was Saul, right? And so he did some horrible things. And so people and in the Bible, the disciples are like, is he really converted? Is he really, is this new Paul? Like, is this the new, you know, they they knew his past, they knew what he had done, but God saw God saw something better, right? God had a different plan. And so um, as we feed on the word, as we persevere, God's plan will unfold in our life, right? A lot of times we just want to see the plan or we want to see the testimonies, but as we do the daily of feeding on his word and persevering and sticking to it, God's plan will unfold in our life. Um, and so we have to discern uh between what's good, acceptable, just talking about a little bit about the plan of God for our lives. Uh, good, acceptable, and perfect. You know, we have the good plan, which is we're born again, right? But those are people who who never develop develop spiritually. It's a good plan. They're going to heaven, then there's an acceptable plan. Recognize God has a plan, work, walking in a measure of that, but then we're mingled with our own plan, right? It's acceptable, it's all right, but then there's a perfect plan. God has like the best plan for our life. And is it it's a wonderful plan, but is it gonna involve, you know, some trials? Sure. We go through some things, but it doesn't mean you're not in the perfect plan of God. Whether it's by your whether things happen to you, whether it's your fault or not your fault, it doesn't, it shouldn't throw you off course. Stick with the plan of God for your life. Um, the perfect plan. And so the will of God for our life cannot be neglected. We can't neglect the will of God for our life. We have to, and again, it's that what we do daily, our daily habits of what we do says either I'm neglecting the plan of God or I'm pursuing the plan of God for my life. And so there's some next steps. Like, you know, maybe you're seeking God about what are my next steps? What God just seek. I want to encourage you, seek God for what are your next steps steps in life. I wrote this down. Perseverance is not just about enduring, but about growing through your trial, right? And so we grow through it. Um, we grow, God wants us to grow through it. So, number three, to build godly character, character, you need honesty and authenticity, being real. And this, again, is such a big subject. So we can't be honest if we're not honest with ourselves. We can't be honest with other people if we're not all honest with ourselves. And so that's part of like self-deception and hiding, and the enemy wants you to, you know, be in the dark. Um, but you you want to make sure that you're honest, that that you're honest with God, that you're honest with others, that you're uh honest with your inner circle. Um authentic, uh, you know, when people are authentic, that invites other people into their life. You know, it's like the real me. I'm not hiding the real me. The real me, this is you what you see is what you get. Right? Being authentic. Again, I'm talking about building godly character, right? And part of building godly character is being real, being authentic, no little white lies. Uh, there was this little story, uh story, but uh we were watching uh the Charlie Kirk uh podcast not too a couple last week, and he had um Tucker Carlson on there, and then well, you know, it was Charlie Kirk wasn't there, of course, but there were other people um on his podcast, but his main right-hand man um said something to the effect of he was just talking about Charlie Kirk and his um just living out his Christian life and his faith walk. And and his right-hand man was saying he texted Charlie about the situation that was there at turning point, and and he kind of outed himself because he uh he wanted, you know, it was like a little white lie, and Charlie Kirk texted back. We don't lie around here, like, right? So, like it's it could be some it could have been something that nobody knew, right, in the organization, like you know, and it's politics, come on, right? And so, like, but but he was just he just defended Charlie. He was like, no, Charlie was what you see is what you get. He was a man of faith, like for real. Because a lot of times we don't see the for real. Just because you have a title doesn't mean you're for real, or because you have a mic. And so he was for real. And so I just thought that was so, man, that just really spoke volumes of here. You have this grandiose person that everybody knows about. And he's in that world where, you know, it's known to not be always truthful. And so his right-hand man just attested to hey, you know what? No, he he was he always pointed it back to God, pointed it back to faith, pointed it back to, hey, no, we're this is this organization, we're organization, we're not gonna lie. And so just being honest, you know, God sees it all, right? God sees it all. I think sometimes we forget that. God sees it. Proverbs 11 3 in the NIV says, the integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity. And then that same scripture, Proverbs 11.3 in the New Living Translation says, honesty guides good people, dishonesty destroys treacherous people. And then Proverbs 12, 22, and then NIV says, the Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy. Psalm 51.6 ESV says, Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. God delights. I like that verse because it says, You delight in truth in the inward being from the heart. From the heart. And you teach me, Lord, wisdom in the secret heart. God wants us to have wisdom. It's wise to be honest, right? Not just, you know, oh, I got caught. Well okay, I had to fess up. Well, then that was that really being honest? Not really, no, right? He wants real honesty. He wants, you know what? I'm okay. That it's called repent, right? It's called when we repent, when we, hey, we did something wrong, we said something wrong, something was in our heart, and we didn't think right towards that person. I quickly repent, Lord. Right? So we had that's part of our roots. That's part of taking care of our roots and nourishing our roots. And if there's anything in there, we have to make sure to pluck it out and to deal with it. Because again, I'm talking about godly character. So honesty reflects God's character. John 14, 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. I think that's the scripture we have out in the lobby in that sign. I am the way, the truth, and the life. So Jesus identified himself with truth. So if we need to be like Jesus, and Jesus identified himself with truth, then we need to, we need to reflect truth and honesty. And so it's part of um God's character, and so it should be part of our character. And so Jesus didn't didn't struggle with honesty. You see that all throughout the Bible. He was compassionate, he was merciful, he was loving, but he he was honest with people. It wasn't like reading your Bible and it's like, what is he saying? No, he was honest with people. So, in a couple of areas, honest and speech. So a lot of times, you know, it's good to avoid exaggeration, gossip, half truths. Um, we speak with sincerity, not twisting things. Uh, that kind of life is exhausting. Right? It is exhausting. Um in relationships, be trustworthy, be transparent in all relationship and faithful in commitments. If you say something, if you say you're gonna, you know, what keep your word in business, dealing fairly, keeping promises, refusing corruption, and in spiritual life, being honest before God. Right? Again, God sees it all, anyways. So what is there to hide? He sees it all, and so again, I'm talking about building godly character. Our character is so important, it's who we are. God's not interested in a title, He don't care about no title, right? He doesn't care if you have the mic, He just wants you to live an honest, uh God having godly character, uh uh being just the real you. He wants you to live an honest life. And so number four is humility. It's how do you know I put this down? How do you know if you have pride? If you, you know, you don't think you have it? Like, like you, we have to always check, like, Lord, is there anything in me that's prideful? Like God says, if it even looks like pride, I hate it. If it even looks like it, much less it is pride. So we have to make sure that um that we're humble. Humility is having an honest, accurate self-view. It's servant leadership, it's serving. It's how can I help others? How can I serve others? James 4, 6 in the NIV says, God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble. Matthew 23, 12 in the NIV says, for those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. And so humility leads to exaltation. Right? And so a lot of times we may not see that or may not, you know, there's certain circumstances, and oh, why do they get exalted? But you know, again, going back to God sees it all, humility leads to exaltation. And then number five, patience and forgiveness. So patient with others, and then we have to practice forgiveness. So Colossians 3, 12 through 17 in the New Living Translation says, Since God chose you to be holy people, He loves you. Sorry, since God chose you to be holy people, He loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. It's a lot, it's a lot listed right there, right? It's a lot. Make allowance for each other's fault and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, if he's saying remember, it must be because sometimes we forget, right? We have to remember the Lord forgave you, me. So we must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body, you are called, you are called to live in peace. What's my calling? Well, first of all, you're called to live in peace. If there's turmoil, if there's if you're with somebody and they're always, there's always strife, it's always turmoil, it's always listen, pray, pray through it. God's called us to live in peace and always be thankful. Verse um 16. Let the message about Christ and all its richness fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to the God the Father. And so here he's called us to be holy, to be set apart. But we have to clothe ourselves just like everybody put on clothes today, right? Thank the Lord. Thank the Lord. You didn't come to church without clothes. Oh, buddy. But here he's saying, clothe yourself. So you can, when you're putting on your clothes, you can think of the scripture. Hey, I'm gonna put on my jacket, right? I'm gonna put on pants. Mercy, Brahmaja, kindness, humility, right? Gentleness, patience. And so a lot of times we think that, you know, to be heard, we have to be loud. To make a mark in this society, to make a mark in America, to make a uh, and I'm not saying you're you don't you're don't like you're not loud and you don't speak up for truth because we do. We we're we're loud, we speak up for all of the things. But also we can't forget that our foundation is mercy, kindness, humility, right? Gentleness. Because you can be true about something, but then listen, like we that person, whoever you're talking to, and maybe you're you know having a confrontation or debating or whatever it may be, like we always have to make sure, again, that we're clothed with kindness and humility because it's part of our character, it's part of God's character, and it should be part of ours. And so we should all that's how we're gonna read it, that's how the harvest, like people are out there that need God, that need Jesus, that that need what you have. And so they won't listen to what you have to say if they don't feel the love of God. Right? I'll shut somebody out. Okay. Right? Not that I'll shut somebody out, but you might be rhetorically, you can you can you can say a speech and you can eloquently say um, you know, whatever you gotta say, but if it the love isn't felt, if there's no kindness and humility, then people shut their ears off, right? Because again, it's going back to the character of God. It's going back, and and yes, we do speak the truth in love. You know, whenever we're talking to a friend or a family member, and you know, the Holy Spirit is leading us to tell them the truth about there's a situation, and you have to follow the Holy Spirit of when and how and what words to say. And but it's all done out of love and humility and gentleness. And so we clothe ourselves again. I'm talking about building godly character. And so a lot of times we may, we may in our mind, I know I could like in our mind, we may think like, oh, that's success. Oh, that's what that, you know, um climbing high on the totem pole, that's what that looks like. When really, what does God think of success? What is He, what does that look like to him? These scriptures that I just read tonight, that's all it, right? Humility, patience, bearing with one another, loving somebody, right? Loving the unlovable because people are gonna come here in this church and they might not look lovable, right? Oh, they don't look like they belong. No, give them a chance. Come on, somebody gave you a chance. Hello, right? Somebody gave me a chance. So loving the unlovable. So again, I'm talking about building godly character. Our character matters. Yes, it does, it really does. And so just to recap it, you can't control the outcome, but you can control our habits that we, our systems, what we do on the daily, our consistency. Right? Nobody does that for you. If we're consistent with praying much in the Holy Ghost, if we're consistent with reading the word, if we're consistent, we're putting on that praise and worship music, if we're consistent with not listening to the lies of the enemy, if we're consistent, when when we get to that crossroad of spirit of flesh and choosing spirit, if we're consistent with that, that's when we build godly character, right? Not when throwing in the towel, not when just um focusing on the problem, but but um going back to to focusing on the root of my character, not the branches that we tape in the children's church, little craft, those will eventually fall off, but the root, right? The root of my character. Why I do what I do, why I think what I think, my why is my response like that? Why is it so quick? Why again going back to the root? And so I just want to encourage you that you know what, maybe your roots a little fouled up. You you're never too old to change. You never too young or too old to change. Anybody can change, anybody can develop good character. Maybe you've had a bad habit of 50 years of doing something wrong and awful. You can change. Right? I remember my grandma, I don't know if it's a good example, but my grandma smoked for the I don't know, for growing. I just remember going to her house during summertime, and I would come home and my entire wardrobe and suitcase and all of it would smell like smoke. But I loved going to her house because she was the funnest grandma ever. She taught me all kinds of things. I would cook with her, I would bake cakes with her, and she taught me how to play games and rummy and all the fun things that a kid should learn how to play. We didn't gamble, we just played cards, okay? I would help her clean and she would give me um money to dust around the house and all of those things. But uh I just remember, I think it was maybe I was a teenager, but she didn't talk about it. I just came uh to her house one summer and she stopped quitting. She stopped smoking. She she quit. She did like the patch or whatever. She had smoked all her life and she quit. Like if where there's a where there's a want-to, where there's a will, there's a way. Right? Your want-to has to be there. And so again, God doesn't give up on anybody. God doesn't give up on you. God doesn't give up on you. Watching live stream. God wants you to build strong character. Why? Why does he want us to build uh a strong godly character so you can live the good life? So you don't have to be frustrated or mad or anxious or uh can't sleep at night or in sin or all of the things. God wants you to have character because if you're a Christian, you're a leader. And again, going back to my first, if you know, I wrote it down and didn't memorize it. Hold on, let me let me read it about leading people. When the leader gets better, everybody else gets better. Right? And so you guys and your circle, when you get better, right, your inner soul, everybody else gets better. If you're better as a parent, right, if you're full of joy and peace and love, your child will be full of joy and peace and love. But if you are anxious and uh stressed and worried, what do you think that child is gonna be? Anxious, stressed, worried, even as a baby, studies have shown that they may not be verbal, but what you're portraying by your attitude, it goes on them. As a baby, right? Before verbal, there's nonverbal. Right? If you're stressed, if you're worried, if you're anxious, if you if those words are just flying out of your mouth and you don't even watch what's flying out of your mouth. Oh, it's your fault. Oh, you I never said that to my kids, right? We we always spoke words that were encouraging. We never we don't tear down, we build up. So that's just a side note. But again, going back to our character matters, your character matters. So we we focus um on the root of our character and going back to the my original scripture, and I'll wrap it up. If the roots, Romans 11 16 in the Passion translation, and this was uh last year, Pastor Daphne at the women at our women's meeting. I never read it in this translation, I really liked it. She mentioned it. If the roots of a tree are holy and set apart, so too will be their branches. And so you want to make sure that your roots are holy and set apart, and to keep them that way on the daily, to keep them uh set apart. Um you know, the more we stay close to Jesus, the more we become like him. It's when we stray away, when we when we lose focus of what he has for our life, when we just get caught up on the things that really don't matter in life, um, that's where our character starts to dwindle and become less and less like Jesus. But the more, bottom line, the more you stay connected to Jesus, the more you become like him, and the more of a godly character you will have. Amen. I hope that blessed you tonight. Uh, building godly character, it's not only for the teenagers, but it's for the adults as well.