“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
- Galatians 5:22-23
They say that your character defines who you are. What you say, what you do and how you are to the people around you determines your whole being.
But, how can one truly embrace what it is to build a character that is attuned to what Jesus Christ taught us? How can one accord the way he behaves in any given situation or circumstance and be on guard at all times? Thus, exhibit the fruits of the spirit in words and deeds.
Chapter B1 jumpstarted the month of April with one of the most powerful, heart-warming and moving teaching… the CHRISTIAN CHARACTER WEEKEND held last 6th of April, 2017.
The night began with a powerful praise and worship led by Bro. Dru Parcia followed by the teaching overview conducted by Bro. Lloyd Pangan. The latter emphasized on the topics to be covered which is entirely focused to our Christian Character and how we will be able to imbibe the characteristics of being Christ-like with our will submitted to the Father, our emotions guided by the Holy Spirit and a heart attuned to Christ.
TALK 1: OUR EMOTIONS AND OUR CHARACTER
Speaker: Sis Abhie Catipon (Chapter Head- Chapter A1)
This talk emphasized how one should handle his/her emotions with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Our emotions should not be the basis of our decisions or actions but rather respond to it with the right kind of attitude geared towards the fulfillment of God’s will in our lives. To be able to handle your emotions, AWARENESS is the key and that is through knowing how we are feeling not only on the surface but also examine deeper beneath it.
Being able to control your emotion and act upon it with the grace of the Lord and the Holy Spirit is truly what the Lord wants us to do. This is the true context of what our personal Christian living should be. Hence, it is by yielding mostly to the Holy Spirit that we are fully guided in establishing headship over our emotions.
We left the center with a reflective heart… full of realizations about how we are dealing with our emotions. After the talk, personally I have come to realize that there is such a way of handling ones emotion with the right attitude. You just need to allow the Holy Spirit to guide you because through it, God will transform you as well as your feelings.
Second day of the CHRISTIAN CHARACTER WEEKEND was spearheaded by a powerful morning worship led by Bro. Jason Rodriguez. It was indeed very moving and captivating as it prepared us to the next couple of talks during the day.
TALK 2: HUMILITY
Speaker: Sis Cheryl Esteban (Unit Head- Chapter B1)
“God’s faithfulness is stronger than our unfaithfulness and our infidelities.” ~ Pope Francis
This talk mainly tackled how one should learn how to acknowledge and recognize what God has blessed us with and be thankful about it.
Humility is not denying the gifts and graces given to us by God but rather acknowledging and recognizing them. Thus, to be able to embrace the true meaning of humility, you should not compare yourself to others because we are all God’s masterpieces… created by His image and likeness.
Sis Che also stressed out that we need to ask for God’s grace to turn away from pride (the highest among the 7 capital sins). How are we able to do this? Through finding security in God’s immense love for us. His love is beyond measure… even to those who are flawed, awkward and broken. But no matter how unworthy we are, His faithfulness to us who acknowledges our faults and weaknesses and humble ourselves before Him is what a true servant should be.
TALK 3: COURAGE
Speaker: Bro. Marvin Roces (Chapter A2)
John 1- 4:18 – “There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear”.
COURAGE as what is being highlighted in this talk is defined as the ability to deal with fear by seeing things in God’s perspective. It is not the absence of fear, but rather doing the right thing in the midst of fear itself.
When asked for our greatest fears, we tend to respond to it with the most concrete examples we can think of. But whatever fears we may have in us, it is given by God to protect and guide us. However, we should be very careful as our fears can also be the gauge for the evil side to intercede against God’s plans for us. Don’t allow your fears to hold you back and make you doubt or feel anxious. You should learn how to overcome your fears whether it’s concrete or difficult to recognize. Entrust and surrender everything unto Him for He will strengthen you and help you turn your sufferings and fears to victories.
TALK 4: ANGER
Speaker: Sis Jen Baron (Unit Head- Chapter B1)
James 1:19 – “My beloved, be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger.”
Sis Jen opened her talk with a question: When was the last time you got angry? A question that is not often asked but sometimes it’s also something we need to reevaluate ourselves with. While anger is very common to all, a natural response which is useful at times especially when dealing with obstacles more effectively… there are ways and means on how you will be able to handle your anger righteously.
This made me reflect on how I deal with my anger personally. Am I handling it righteously as God wants me to do? Or am I being consumed by the feeling that I tend to forget how to deal with it befittingly.
“Be quick to listen, but slow to anger.” It is when we show a loving response to a situation that we are able to deal with anger righteously. Thus, never dwell with it nor immerse yourself to the feeling but instead pray for God’s grace and surrender everything to Him so you can express your anger righteously and respond to it in accordance to what God really wants us to do.
TALK 5: SURRENDER
Speaker: Sis Joy Albano (Chapter Head – B1)
“For as the Heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways… and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” – (ISAIAH 55:9)
The very emotional talk during the entire CCW (Christian Character Weekend) where Sis Bujoy started with a powerful song and concluded it with a reflection activity that moved and touched us to our cores.
SURRENDER – big word indeed. More often than not, we find it hard to submit or surrender to the things that we are already comfortable with. We tend to make decisions without asking ourselves… “Is this the will of God?” or, “Is this what He really plans for me?”
So, how do we really submit ourselves to the Lord? It is through getting past your past… your past does not define who you are; so you don’t dwell on it. Let it be your forbearance to move forward with the grace of our Lord because His love is redeeming and He is a God of infinite chances.
Forgiving yourself and the people that have caused you pain is not an easy thing to do. However, if you surrender it all to Him, you will find peace in you. Thus, “Forgive others, not because they deserve forgiveness, but because you deserve PEACE.”
Do away with your sins (vices, favorite sins and the like), entrust everything to the Lord and you will find how He will work in your life more than you can imagine.
To surrender everything to God entails a lot of sacrifices but unknowingly, it is also life changing and freeing. We entrust everything to the Lord because we submit and completely trust in the Lord’s will and plan for us.
“The beauty of having God in our lives is because, God is very patient with us. There is no greater joy than being able to experience the love that the Lord is giving to us.” ~ Sis Bujoy
TALK 6: A HEART ATTUNED TO CHRIST
Speaker: Bro Karl Nuñez
“I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” – (JOHN 14:6)
A heart attuned to Christ is a heart where God wants us to seek joy in Him alone, experience His peace and joy, seek His beauty, love and his heart.
Bro Karl pointed out how we should aligned ourselves and be attuned with the teachings of Jesus Christ. Taking on His characters and values like kindness, humility, gentleness, patience and forgiving.
Thus, we seek Him in our lives in the indelible characters stamped unto us through the 7 sacraments.
Attuning our hearts to God is about living in His love, guarding our hearts and being aware of Him every moment of our lives. Therefore, the concrete ways to do this is to spend time with Jesus in your prayers, know more about Him through scripture reading, experience Jesus’ heart through the sacraments and live out Jesus’ heart with others.
Jesus is our model, the most concrete example and our true guide to be closer to our Father Almighty. For it is His character sealed unto us that makes us a true Christian with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, that we will find out more and more people will recognize the character and the Love of Christ in us.
In this year of being all out for Christ and standing firm to our faith in Him, being a true Christian means you should always be on guard. Our emotions guided by the Holy Spirit will make a huge difference in our lives and our relationship with God. We may stumble and fall, we make mistakes but the Lord is merciful to us… He is faithful to us… and his love is redeeming. Humble ourselves before Him and acknowledge our faults and weaknesses. Let us allow ourselves to surrender our worries, our fears and all our doubts unto Him, in whatever circumstances we may have if we seek Him in our lives nothing can go wrong. Attuning our hearts and be Christ-like is never easy but with God’s grace, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we will always be victorious in faithfully embodying what is it like to portray the true CHRISTIAN CHARACTER in the eyes of our Almighty Father.
For that, may God be Praised!
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