WHAT ARE THE CHARACTER TRAITS OF A JESUS FOLLOWER?

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control”-  Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV).

If you were buying a new car, you would probably look for something well-built, dependable, and in your price range. If you were reading a novel, you likely want a good plot, a compelling crisis, and solid character development. If you were considering a new house, you would focus on location, size, quality, and price. In almost everything in life, typical characteristics make something “good.”  Similarly, characteristics, or traits, distinguish those who follow Jesus from others.

Genuine Christian character is not just about our personality or disposition. It describes who we are as Christians. It is exhibited in what we do and how we do it as followers of Jesus. In essence, our character is the display case of Christ.

Building and developing character is something we must desire and work at. Fortunately, Christ gave us a model to evaluate. Studying the character of Jesus is a lifelong effort. These qualities of Jesus Christ’s character are apparent throughout His ministry.

First was compassion: Jesus never looked away from people; He always looked upon them and had compassion (Matthew 9:36). Whenever people were around Him, Jesus understood their real needs and sought to address them. Jesus took the time to notice that people were hurting—and His compassion drove Him to help them. Jesus was the ultimate servant. He taught them to be servants by actually doing it Himself.  Despite having the authority to get anything He wanted and have people praise and pamper Him, He did the exact opposite by lowering Himself and serving others.

No list of Jesus‘ character is complete without love. If anyone doubts His love, all they have to do is look upon the cross and see the agony that He bore for our sake. He experienced that horrible death so that all could be saved. That, very clearly, is true love at its finest.

 Additional characteristics include forgiving, patience, commitment, gentleness, self-control, and humility. Jesus had every opportunity and right to demand praise and accolades for His miracles and teachings, but He never did. He did not want to become a sideshow,  He wanted to seek and save the lost and offer forgiveness for sinful people.

The world doesn’t need more role models; it needs more of Jesus, the ultimate role model. People will not find a better person to emulate positive character traits than Jesus Christ.

Imitating Jesus in even a small way is a tall order. But following Him starts with asking God to help me discover more of what that means, with a hunger to know more of the purpose for which I have been made and asking how I can grow more fully into God’s image. When I love Him, I will be like Him. When I am like Him, I will love like He loves and be a reflection of Him by wearing the following wear.

Discussion Questions:

1. Which of the characteristics of Jesus is the easiest to do? Which is the most difficult?
2. What can we do this week to follow Jesus a little bit better?