Reflecting the character of Christ

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another. Galatians 5:16-26

The kingdom of God starts here on earth. All who live in sin cannot enjoy the presence and grace of God. Witchcraft is not only about riding about on a broom, if you wish them evil, do people harm; it is witchcraft. When we do all those things to our neighbour and to our body that does not reflect the nature of Christ we will not inherit the kingdom of God.
If we can imbibe the fruits if the spirit, we are living above the laws of Moses.

A lot of people are afraid to correct people and ensure they have good Christ like character so we don't lose friends or lose church members. The essence of sound Christian character cannot be wished away, they cannot be overlooked. In the past when people become born again the changes from the old to the new is visible. Unlike what we have this days the old is not becoming new. Born again Christians live together sin.

A lot of us suffer or face problems today not because of what we do today but for the offense we committed yesterday.

People must become Christ-like by their character and not just by the words of their mouth. Our attitude and behaviour must change; our Christianity mist show. A nation cannot experience proper transformation without the character of a large part of its people changing.

As Christians, our character must be one the world must be willing to emulate. The society has turned upside down because the essence of character has been lost. Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. Galatians 5:2 KJV. If in your life, you do not have the fruit of the spirit, you are not a Christian in truth and Spirit.

The bible says if you do not have love, joy, peace, not long suffering; then you are not a Christian.
Today who does your character remind people of? Does your character remind people of Christ?Today we have Christians who can no longer tell the truth. People themselves do not want to tell or hear the truth.

We must be ready to pay the price for our Christ-like nature and Christianity. A Christian must be a bringer of joy.

Things we must do to share joy

• Help others to overcome their fear
• An encourager of people
• Give hope to people
• Your life must give a reassurance of God
• Give without regret
• Strive to perfection

Those things we think we want are not really what we need. A lot of us seek encouragement in material things and neglect the place of character in our life as a Christian.

Check yourself and see if you truly have the character of Christ? Do you accept correction with a joyful heart? Does the love of Christ reflect in you? Do you live in sin and call it modern living?

If your life doesn't reflect Christ, then you need to change the direction of your life.

We come to you Father with a contrite heart and ask that our character begin to reflect Christ. In Jesus name, we pray.

What is love?

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 1 Corinthians 13:1 NIV

Love is giving. One of the greatest problem of the world today is a lack of lobe. 1 Corinthians 13:-11 says love suffers long....this means love is extremely patient. That if we love someone we will be extremely tolerant of them and their shortcomings.

Love says we must give them a long rope. If everyone could love one another as we ought to do life would almost be utopian because there would be no quarrel.

It says also love is kind. But the natural tendency of people is to instinctively be unkind. Why are people not kind?

1. Self preservation
2. Self centeredness

Love does not envy. It look down on people or gossip about people looking for their downfall. Love seeks people's success and celebrates their success.

Love is extremely humble. It does not lift itself up and is not proud or arrogant. We mist maintain our humility, normalcy, humanity and our originality that reminds us that we are no one without God.

Remember that the first bath you have someone will give it to you, the last bath you will have also someone will give it to you after you are dead.

According to to Greek there are 3 kinds of love but we speak of the love that comes of God. 1 John tells us that God is love and when we say we love, we simply mean we reflect God as an extension to our fellow mankind.

Love is an expression that never fails. It is how we express our feelings of gratitude, kindness, patience, humility, neighborliness towards man.

If you can pray and make the sun and moon stand still, the bible says one day it will fail. If we become as wise as Solomon the king of Israel, one day the wisdom will fail us. However, love will not fail you.
Love is greater than the strongest faith, it is better than the strongest hope. The love that reflects God will stand the test of time, it will pull you through the hardest times and give you the strength to go on.

God loves us greatly John 3:16. Anytime we think about God we should think more of a loving God
Jesus Christ loves us greatly that He gave His life for us. John 15:17
God wants us to love one another. 1 Thessalonians 1:5
If you truly love your neighbor you would have obeyed every law. Romans 13:8

• Love is an evidence of Christian growth. If you are growing in Christ you would truly love irrespective of who your neighbor is. 1 Thessalonians 3:12
• Love is a strong affection for another, unselfish benevolent towards your neighbor. (Webster dictionary). This is how the bible describes love
• Love suffers long, love says we must tolerate people for a long time
• Love is actively kind. A person who loves looks around for people they may show kindness to. 
• Love does not envy. It doesn't want for itself what belongs to another. It is not angry with another person for what they have. 
• Love is humble, not puffed up. It does not place a higher value on himself than another person
• It does not behave un seemingly, does no evil to oneself or to others 
• Love does not rejoice in iniquity but rejoices in truth 
• Love will always give you the benefit of the doubt. 

We must determine that the love of God must reign in our lives so we can have peace. Love is not an automatic emotion but a determined emotion that we work on daily. Therefor you must determine in your heart that you would love the person next to you.

If you truly love somebody;

• You will accept the person as they are Ephesians 4:2 and not as what you think they should be. Do not have the mind to change them. 
• You will speak good of one another and do good to one another. Hebrews 10:6... Look for a way of edifying and not destroying people. Correct in love with an attitude that lifts people up and not to pull them down or to break their spirit. Find something good to say about somebody because there is always something nice to say about them. 
• You will not quarrel or fight one another Romans 12:8, 1 Corinthians 13:7. You will not seek for a way to have your own back because a person has offended you. Love does not attack or antagonize people. You can disagree but you do not need to fight. 

Remember, it doesn't cost you anything to be nice!