CHARACTER BUILDING

PASTOR RYAN LADEN – DEVOTIONALS

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It will build character…. ugh. Not a statement anyone wants to hear. But as we hear in Romans 5:1-5, we cannot become mature and complete in our faith without a little character building.

Maturity

I can still remember a comment made twenty five years ago by a close and respected friend of mine while we were having coffee. He made me look him in the eye and he told me that, “I was mature well beyond my age.” 

I did not know how to take that comment. I did not feel mature. I was struggling to see myself as anything but a young and inexperienced goofball. And here was this trusted friend telling me he saw maturity and wisdom in me. 

Over the years I have learned a lot about the differences between mature and immature followers of Christ and I can assure you, age is no predictor of maturity!  

In the passage below, we can hear from the Apostle Paul a truth that can help us all understand where maturity in Christ comes from and how it develops in us. 

1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 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.

(Romans 5:1-5 NIV11)

Produces

Follow the pattern… suffering… perseverance… character… hope. 

When we face hard times, persecution, physical pain, heartbreak and the like, we often recoil from these sharp objects like we would from the tip of a knife. 

No one wants to experience suffering for the sake of suffering nor pain for the sake of pain. But when we see that there is good that comes from our hardships and trials, they begin to take on a different shape in our minds. 

Scars

I was recently told by a pastor friend that he found me to be a trustworthy man because I had scars. Not physical scars mind you, but he knew that I have been through lots of hard times and painful situations in life and though these wounds have healed (mostly), I still carry around on my person the proof of the pain. 

To my friend, these scars were signs of maturity. They are proof that I have indeed learned to embrace the pain that comes with loving others and seeking to represent Christ to a lost and dying world. And the fact that I am still standing, still smiling, still willing to ask the Lord to use me each and every day, this means that I have persevered. 

Hope 

All of these scars show that I have learned to trust in the Lord to heal and provide when it seemed that all that was good in life had vanished. And as I have learned to trust in the Lord to heal my broken heart and set me back into his service, I have learned to trust in the unfailing love of the Lord God Almighty. 

That is why the end game for those who encounter suffering can be hope.

As we learn to trust in the Lord, day after day, cut after cut, heartbreak after heartbreak, we learn to trust in the steadfast presence of the Holy Spirit and we learn to rest in the completed work of Jesus Christ. 

I can have hope in the future goodness and faithfulness of the Lord because he has been so good to me and to billions of others like me in the past. 

Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, you are the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. You do not change when my circumstances change. You are not surprised when I am shocked. You do not turn away when I am at my lowest. You Lord are an ever-present help in times of trouble. I will keep serving you and lifting up my praises to you no matter what tomorrow brings.

In Christ, 

Ryan Laden

PASTOR RYAN LADEN

Former Senior pastor at Warnbro Community Church

Studies at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

Studied at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

Studied at Baylor University

Studied at Texas Tech University

Went to Castle Hills First Baptist

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