2021: CHARACTER
By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.
In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.
The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.
—2 Peter 1:3—9, NLT
Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
—James 1:2—4, NLT
CHARACTER
Noun . char·ac·ter | \ ˈker-ik-tər , ˈka-rik- \
—Attributes or features that make up and distinguish an individual
—Moral excellence and firmness
—The quality of being determined and able to deal with difficult situations
—A letter, number, or other symbol that is written or printed
This year, the focus is on Character— on being whole, complete, unwavering, firm, excellent, and set-apart, on being people of integrity and indeed, bonafide examples of these afore-mentioned traits to a world that continually thirsts for this.
- One sense of the word ‘character’ describes a letter, number or a symbol that is written or printed. To wit, character does not change—it is easily recognizable anywhere. A person of character is a person of integrity. He or she is whole, complete . . . At the moment of salvation, every person who believes in the Lord Jesus and confesses his Lordship was made whole. However, it is important to know that we are also being made whole. It is a process and not a singular destination. When we realise this, we will not be discouraged by present imperfection. On the contrary, it will spur us on towards our finish line.
- As Christians, we have also been called to make a difference in our world—we have been called to be salt of the earth, and light of the world. We have been called to palpably influence the world we exist in—to make it better. What better way to do this than “…supplement[ing] [our] faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. The more [we] grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be. . .” Character—moral excellence—is a principal stop on our pathway to relevance.
- Character does not cower in the face of adversity instead, “We rejoice when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love”.
—Romans 5:3—5, NLT
Jesus Christ shows us the way— Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Throughout the year, we will be exploring these key concepts in three issues namely— Character, Endurance, and Whole.
CHARACTER— May 2021
Beginning the series of three this year, we delve into the substance of what it truly means, and how we can fully step into the character of Christ, His life and sacrifice. As Christians, and for that matter determined followers of Jesus Christ, we have chosen to live, or die, like Christ. But what is that even supposed to look like in today’s culture? How do we truly and genuinely live up to the calling of being salt of the earth and light of the world? How do we remain intact and unscathed by the putrid corruption of our world even as we attempt to make it whole?
At the core of this issue will be an in-depth look at our saviour’s life on earth— He who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin— with practical points on how, like Him, we can also remain intact in our pursuit of relevance. We also talk about integrity in leadership, and attempt to find a Christian solution to the canker of corruption in our part of the world.
ENDURE— August 2021
A significant chunk of our effort to stay in character will require that we endure—we persevere, we stand. Pressure to conform to the world is a major plague the Church faces in today’s scheme of things. The truth—distinct in its genes—is constantly being diluted with various solvents of lies that we seek to put right in this issue.
How do we safeguard our integrity as relates to our interactions with the world? This edition is for the hard conversations no one really likes. Where does the church stand on the legalisation of homosexuality and same sex marriages, sexual abuse within the clergy, the prevalence of feminism and many more? Where should the church stand? How do we discern truth within our sociocultural and chronological context? We will offer tools for the young believers to employ in their ‘right handling’ of the Word of truth.
Finally, this issue will provide encouragement to all who are tired and worn-out on the path towards relevance—persevere. It gets better.
WHOLE— December 2021
How do we safeguard our integrity when we think we have lost it? On the long road to wholeness, many believers have fallen more times than they have risen up. The good news is that the Messiah has still been given to all, both far off and near. The birth of Jesus brings hope, but more than that, it made real the gift of restoration. In a broken world that tries to mould us into its image, we discuss how we rise after falling, the barriers of guilt and the chain breaker called grace, and remind ourselves of the loving arms of the Father ready to love us whole again.