Chapter 6: Character
When I was working for the facilities team at a church, we were tasked with a very daunting task: repainting the parking lot lines. This would have been fine if we had a machine that we could just walk behind, but unfortunately, we didn’t. Instead, we had to paint each line by hand in the Texas summer heat.
It was, without a doubt, one of the hardest tasks I have ever had to do. However, as challenging as it was, I can see how God used that circumstance to develop my character, no matter how I felt about it in the moment.
Chapter 6 of The Titus Ten is about the importance of developing a character that reflects Christ. Paul’s first command to Titus for the church in Crete was to “appoint elders in every town” (Titus 1:5). He then goes on to explain that church leaders “must be blameless, not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined” (Titus 1:7-8).
Paul seems to be far more concerned with the character of these church leaders than anything else. That tells me something important about how God works in our lives. He is not only interested in what we accomplish; He is interested in who we become along the way.
I think back to those parking lot lines. At the time, I didn’t see much value in spending hours painting lines by hand. But looking back, I can see how God used that experience to teach me perseverance, patience, and the importance of finishing what I start.
That’s often how character is developed. It happens through the difficult, tedious, and inconvenient things we would rather avoid. We want the shortcut, but God sometimes takes us the long way because there is something He wants to develop in us along the way.
So today, when you find yourself in a difficult or frustrating circumstance, don’t just ask, “How do I get out of this?” Ask, “What is God trying to develop in me through this?”
The Bigger Picture: Sometimes God takes you the long way around to develop your character.
The Bigger Picture 