![]() It does not waver from hope to hopelessness. ![]() It does not go high and low, up and down. Endurance is what produces true character!Ĭharacter produces Hope - One of the greatest attributes of character is the evenness it creates. Character is an elusive concept to those who despise suffering. This is the place of true growth!Įndurance produces Character - Consistent endurance leads to the establishment of what we all want but very few have, character! Character is sustained strength to say no to the things that are harmful to our lives and yes to the things that Christ has for us. To learn the art of going beyond what our comfort zone would dictate. If you stop the second your body demands, you will never have any endurance! The bottom line: when we suffer we have an opportunity to grow in our endurance. Everyone knows you can’t gain endurance unless you push further. Suffering produces Endurance - Let’s use the illustration of running. ![]() May your week be filled with the grace and peace that come from Jesus.“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,” - Romans 5:3–4 (ESV) I hope and pray that these words are a reminder and encouragement to you. It reminds me of his loving and nurturing character. ![]() Praise has a similar effect: It reminds me how incredibly good God has been to me, not just in the big ways but in the small ways, too. It allows me to be at peace exactly where I’m at and tune my mind into what the Spirit is doing. Giving thanks is an amazing tool it helps me shift my perspective, to look past the current moment and remember both what he has done in the past and to have hope and trust (faith) in what he will do in the future. Two things that have helped me in this season are giving thanks to God and giving praise to him. I have found that, to receive a deeper relationship with God I have to put deeper trust in his goodness, especially when the future is uncertain. He wants to come alongside us, in both the good and hard places, and speak life, hope and peace to us. When the Father thinks of us, he thinks of us with joy and happiness. Jesus dying for us set the bar for the minimum amount of love and good that God wants to bring into our lives, through Jesus and the Spirit. We have the Holy Spirit and a Heavenly Father who absolutely loves to be with us and spend time with us. These verses remind me that, in a time when we sometimes feel alone, we are not alone. “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? … 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:31, 38-39). But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:1-8). Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. ![]() You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance perseverance, character and character, hope. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. The verses below from Romans 5 and 8 stood out to me. For the past several months I have been growing in my understanding and trust in two really important areas: knowing God as Father and trusting in his goodness. ![]()
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