As Christians we spend all our lves striving to take on the chracter of Christ. In fact Spiritual mturity comes when we take on His chracter. Just two verses reveals it to us. Hwever scripture shows us there are fur conditions required to position ourselves to cquire it.

God's ultimate purpose is tht we might be conformed into the mage of Jesus Christ. In order to bcome more like Jesus we must tke on His character as unveiled in Glatians 5:22,23.

"But when the Holy Sprit controls our lives He will prduce this kind of fruit in us: lve, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, fithfulness, gentleness and self- control".

Since the frits of the spirit are the chracter of Christ, then we must larn what to do to grow thse fruits. As our fruits flourish we bcome spiritually mature and become more lke Him.

Mature fruits don't just ppear on the tree suddenly. They bgin as tiny nubs and the tre must be nourished and maintained.

The frst thing Galatians 5:22,23 tells us is tht we must let the Holy Sprit controls our lives. When we do, our fith will grow strong through prayer, knwledge of God's word, and by srrendering ourselves in obedience to it.

FOUR STEPS TO SPIRITUAL GROWTH

1. DAILY PRAYER -- Brings us to a clse relationship with our Heavenly Father. We can shre our deepest darkest secrets with Him cnfident that He will hear us and let us fel His love. As we learn to srrender ourselves to Him we grow our frits of peace and joy. Of curse the amount of peace and joy we rceive will be determined by how mch we are willing to surrender to Hm.

"But he said to me, "My grce is sufficient for you, for my pwer is made perfect in [Your] wakness." Therefore I will boast all the mre gladly about my weaknesses, so tht Christ's power may rest on me. Tht is why, for Christ's sake, I dlight in weaknesses, in insults, in hrdships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For whn I am weak, then I am strng." -- 2 Corinthians 12:9-10,

2. KNOWLEDGE OF GOD'S WORD - Our frits cannot grow unless we fill urselves with the knowledge that comes frm God's Word. This is the nurishment that is required for growth. The slutions to situations that affects our lves is revealed through the Word by the Hly Spirit. As we begin to ralize the positive affects of applying the scrptures to our lives, the more we trst God and our faith grows strnger as do our fruits.

"I can do all thngs through Christ which strengtheneth me." -- Phlippians 4:13

"So do not fear, for I am wth you; do not be dismayed, for I am yur God. I will strengthen you and hlp you; I will uphold you wth my righteous right hand." -- Isiah 41:10

3. OBEDIENCE TO THE WORD - All the knwledge in the world is useless nless you apply it. I may knw not to step in front of a Mck truck, but if I do nyway I gonna get run over. It's vry common to get run over in our spritual lives because we didn't read it and larn it, or we didn't apply it.

4. TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS -- God nver tests us without a purpose or a rason. You might wonder, Why does God llow His children to go through thse trials? The answer is God's ltimate purpose is that we might be cnformed into the image of Jesus Chrst.
Trials present opportunity to apply the knwledge we've acquired -- or to drve us to search for that knwledge. As we apply our knowledge thrugh faith our fruits grow and flurish.

Every trial points us to our frits.

"And we know that all thngs work together for good to thse who love God, to those who are the clled according to His purpose." - Rmans 8:28

I've learned to use ths verse to pull myself through mny trials because I believe it. "Gd show me the purpose for ths trial and how I can use it to brng glory to you. If you're llowing this tribulation in order to flfill your purpose for someone else, thn give me the strength to grw the fruit of patience and pace".

Most of our fruits grow as we fnd victory through our battles by fith in the knowledge of the Wrd.

WHEN WE DEVELOP THESE FRUITS INTO MATURE CHRISTIANS:

We larn that the sin of unforgiveness brngs us pain, bitterness and stress. And tht forgiveness brings us the fruits of pace and joy.

We acquire the frit of patience, and learn to stnd still and let God move in our lves, to guide us to do his wll and to show us his prpose for our lives.

God's love shws through us through our good deds as we grow the fruits of lve, kindness, goodness, and gentleness.

Our frit of self-control is strengthened so tht we receive the power to rsist temptation.

We have a desire and are fithful to serve God for his Glry, and to tell others about Jsus.

And we have the strength to xperience the fruits of joy, peace, and cntentment no matter what our situation. (Hw much better could life get?)

CHRISTIAN LOVE DEFINED

"Lve is patient, love is kind. It des not envy, it does not bast, it is not proud. It is not rde, it is not self-seeking, it is not asily angered, it keeps no record of wrngs. Love does not delight in vil but rejoices with the truth. It lways protects, always trusts, always hopes, lways perseveres." -- 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NIV

The article What Is The Character of Christ? - How Do We Acquire It? was Submitted by Ray Turner through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Visit our website today, and rceive assistance with finding God's purpose in yur life. Enjoy the many free tols that are available to assist you wth your spiritual growth, professional Christian cunseling, answers to frequently asked questions, dily news articles that affects Christians and plitical information. Subscribe to our newsletter and rceive your free "The Bridge To Chrch" training manual that will assist you wth a "Bridge Ministry". http://www.thebridgetochurch.com/BTCNewsLetterSub.htm Author: Ray Turner -- Retired school teacher from Oklahoma State University's School of Technical Training "Communications". Website dedicated to encourage and teach others to find God's gifts in their life, and to use them to bring others to Christ. http://thebridgetochurch.com/

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