Kingdom MenSample

Kingdom Character

My wife and I once were moving to a new pastoral position across the province and looking at houses in our new future home city.

We brought my father-in-law along, who easily could have been a professional contractor and who has built as well as bought and flipped dozens of houses in his lifetime.

We loved one house we looked at, but he stopped us before we got too excited.

The reason?

He could see the foundation was a mess.

“It’ll be expensive to band-aid it, which is all you’ll be able to do,” he said. “It’s going to be a money pit and cause major problems in other areas of the house as well.”

Aye-aye, sir. Next house, please.

Foundations are crucially important because they support the entire structure of the house. Likewise, a man's character is foundational to his life, supporting everything he thinks, says, and does.

The Kingdom of Heaven has standards like any earthly kingdom. It has laws, rules, and acceptable behavior, and all citizens of this Kingdom are called to live by them.

The decisions we make daily, the thoughts we think, the words we say, and the things we do, all make up a man's character. When these things are good, our character is good. When these things are poor, our character is poor.

Kingdom men seek to reflect the good character of our King and His Kingdom. We are on a mission to become more like Him (Romans 8:29). Jesus is the perfect Man who gives every man the perfect example to follow. The more we look like Him, the better.

The Holy Spirit forms our character to make us more like the King (2 Corinthians 3:17-18), as we take in God's Word, are filled with the Spirit, and engage with God's people who strengthen, encourage, correct, and sharpen us. These gifts of God are given to us to make us men of Kingdom character, and we embrace them for the gifts that they are.

Kingdom men seek to grow in the character of Christ. The more we pursue Him, the more we look like Him, and the more we look like Him, the better men we are.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, make me a man who looks more like You! Take the parts of me that are not good and turn me into a man who is good because You are good. May my character reflect the character of my King and His Kingdom. Amen.

Reflection: What part of your character would you say is the most godly? What part of your character needs some attention right now? What is something practical that you can do to address that today?