Trials Shape the Character of the Christian

On this occasion I want to share with you a message that I am going to take from the Epistle of the Apostle James to the Jews who are in the dispersion, that is, in all those areas of the Middle East where Christian Jews were dispersed in different countries.

In chapter 1 the apostle James, beginning with verse 2, begins his epistle by saying: "Count it all joy, my brethren, when you find yourself in various trials." One wonders why the Apostle James begins his epistle with this particular thought.

Obviously the first thought of a letter is put there because it is important in the mind of the writer. And I believe that the apostle James puts that thought in particular because he is writing to Christians, Jews who were probably in a negative situation of trial, of poverty, even perhaps even of persecution of other Jews who saw them when they converted to Jesus Christ as traitors of religion. People who were going through perhaps difficult situations.

And so the apostle James immediately writes as if to comfort them and bring hope into their lives and then he tells them something that in a sense might seem almost scandalous, "Rejoice when you come across trials." This idea of considering it as something to rejoice in an extreme way when one is in a difficult situation would seem like totally strange because what is expected is that when a person is in tests obviously he feels sad, perhaps even isolated or perhaps even Betrayed by God but no, the Apostle James says: no, consider it something to rejoice over greatly.

Let's first understand that, that I believe that the understanding of the Bible about trials is very different from what the person who does not have God in their life has. We Christians believe that, as the Bible says, all things that happen to us in our lives have a purpose, they have a reason for being, God allows them because there is a reason, there is a kind and transforming purpose that God has in that circumstance in particular. We also believe that nothing happens by accident and that ultimately, as the Apostle Paul says in Romans, that those who love God all things help for good.

That is to say that even the trials, even the difficulties, even the problems we sometimes find ourselves in, even the failures and the most negative things in life according to the Bible have a blessing purpose, a purpose of transformation and growth in our lives. lifetime.

So one of the reasons why I think the Apostle James says that we should consider it extremely joyous when we find ourselves in various trials is that by inviting ourselves to see trials from the divine perspective then maybe we can see it wow, instead From being something destructive, something negative, maybe God has a purpose in it that can ultimately be a blessing for my life.

So he says, one of the reasons we have to consider being on trial for joy is because he says that the testing of our faith produces patience. Notice that one of the things tests do is build the character of the Christian. Through the difficult situations of life administered by God and by the Holy Spirit interpreted in the light of faith, we can see how those difficult situations are helping to create in us a character more like the character of Christ, and one of the The things that the Christian needs most is precisely patience, because patience helps us deal with all situations in life.

In our next study we will be meditating a little more about this role of patience and trial in the character of the Christian.