Character Traits Every Christian Should Manifest [Like Christ]!
By: Dr. Mike Jones
Christ has Character traits that every Christian should want to model after: Below, I’ve listed several for discussion purposes.
- Love will enable us to appreciate our brothers and sisters in the Lord, and, of course, our family, and others around us. Love is taking the initiative to build up and meet the needs of others without expecting anything in return. (John 13:1; John 15:13; 1 Corinthians 13:3)
- Joy will allow us to enjoy His creation, others, and our circumstances with an expression of delight and real, authentic happiness from and with harmony with God and others. (Proverbs 15:13; John 15:11; John 17:13)
- Peace is surrendering and yielding to the Lord’s control, for He is our ultimate peace! It is allowing tranquility to be our tone and to control our equanimity. This will be fueled by our harmonious relationship with God so we can hand over control of our heart, will, and mind to Him. Once we make real peace with God, we will be able to make and maintain peace with others. (Matthew 5:9; Colossians 3:15; Philippians 4:7)
- Patience is showing tolerance and fortitude to others, and even accepting difficult situations from them and God without making demands and conditions. (Matthew 27:14; Romans 12:12; James 1:3,12)
- Kindness is practicing benevolence and a loving attitude towards others. (Ephesians 4:32)
- Goodness displays integrity, honesty, and compassion to others, and allows us to do the right thing. (Matthew 19:16)
- Faithfulness is the “gluing” fruit that will preserve our faith and the other characters of the Spirit as well as identify God’s Will so we can be dependable and trusting to God and others. (Matthew 17:19; Matthew 25:21; 1 Cor. 12:9; Hebrews 11:1; 1 Thes 5:24)
- Gentleness is the character that will show calmness, personal care, and tenderness in meeting the needs of others. (Isa. 40:11; Philippians 4:5; 2 Timothy 2:24; 1 Thes 2:7)
- Self-Control will allow us to have discipline, and restraint with obedience to God and others. (1 Thes 5: 22)
- Forgiving is the realization of how much we have been forgiven by Christ. This enables us to forgive the insignificant things that are done to us. It involves not being resentful to others, and ignoring the wrongs that we have received so we can heal relationships by expressing Christ’s love. (Luke 23:34; Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 3:13)
- Humility minimizes arrogance and removes pride. It is understanding our fallen nature and tendency to think we are better than we are, and our striving to lift up ourselves above others and God. It is admitting that others, and more importantly God is responsible for our achievements. Humbleness will enable us to be a teachable person who is willing to have the attitude of submission and servant-hood, one who confesses sin and remembers how Christ served us! (Luke 22:27; Philippians 2:8; 1 Peter 5:3–5)
Throughout the Word of God, there are literally hundreds of traits that Christ modeled. We are to seek Him while He maybe found, learn some of His Character traits and exemplify them to the world around us.
(Adapted from Character Traits of Christ; all Scripture references are taken from the KJV unless otherwise noted.)