The Character Trait Study Approach Discovering Character Traits and Values In The Bible

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1 The Character Trait Study Approach Discovering Character Traits and Values In The Bible A major goal of Christian living is to develop Christ-like character in our lives. The goal of all Christians should be to become more like their Lord, Jesus. Remember, the Spirit of God uses the Word of God to make us more like the Son of God. One of the ways this is accomplished is by allowing God to identify the bad qualities in our lives and begin replacing them with good ones. But before we can work these Christ-like qualities into our lives we must be able to find and recognize them. This approach is designed to help you identify negative and positive character qualities and then be able to understand them. You may then work on setting aside the negative qualities and begin building the positive ones into your life. Why is this approach vital for our lives? The purpose of this approach of Bible study is to identify character qualities taught in the Bible with the intention of learning to avoid the negative ones and learning to work on the positive ones, so that we become more like the Christ. It is obvious that until we know what a character quality is, we cannot avoid it or develop it. For example, the Bible tells us that Moses was the meekest man to ever live. If we want to become meek, like the Bible tells us to be, we have to find out what it is before we can study it out. If you want to develop these positive biblical characteristics in your life, follow these tips: 1) Only work on one character trait at a time. It really does take a concentrated effort to work one of these qualities into your life, so don t try to work on two or three at once. It is far better to build one quality solidly into your life than to work on several weak ones. 2) Don t rush it! Character development always takes time. Even though one of the steps is to write out an illustration after one week, you re probably going to want to return to your initial study for a much longer time. Personally, I m finding that God works on areas for months (sometimes years) before it becomes part of my daily walk with Him. 3) Stay with that one character trait until you get victory in that specific area. Because this will take a lot of time, you probably won t want to do two character studies back to back. I ve found that doing three to four character studies throughout the year are perfect amount to do. By limiting the amount I do it ensures that I m getting the qualities and traits better established in my life. 4) Be aware that a negative quality in your life may actually be a positive one that is being misused. Realize that God wants to turn your

2 weak points into strong ones. If you are overly strict, legalistic, and unbending, it might be that the good quality of self-discipline is being misused. That characteristic needs to be tempered with compassion and concern for others. 5) Ask and trust the Holy Spirit to build these qualities into your life. In the end it is God s power in you that will reproduce the fruits of the spirit in your life. It is God alone who can change your character. But you have to give Him room and be willing to make the change. For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose. Philippians 2:13 So let God do it, trusting the Holy Spirit to work in your life. Finally, this approach will require us to use a few different resources to get everything we can out of the scriptures. Here are some of the things you ll need: 1. A Study Bible 2. An Exhaustive Concordance 3. A Bible Dictionary 4. A Topical Bible 5. An English Dictionary If you don t have these resources you can always go online and see what is available or you can check the library and see what they have. Once you have all that together, here s what you do. Step One Name The Quality Select the quality you want to study and write it down. Then look it up in an English dictionary and write out the definition of that word or concept. List any synonyms or related words that help you understand this quality. Step Two Name The Opposite Quality Write down the opposite quality the antonym of the one you are studying, and write out its dictionary definition. If you can t think of the opposite word use a dictionary of antonyms ( some thesauruses also give antonyms. For example, unfaithfulness is the opposite of faithfulness. But in some qualities you might be studying, there might be two or more opposites. For example, you could have the following: Faith and Doubt Faith and Apathy Faith and Fear

3 When you encounter something like this write them all down, because you don t know how it might tie in later on in the study. Step Three Do A Simple Word Study Next, look up the Biblical definition of the word you are studying. You can accomplish this with a Bible dictionary or a Strong s concordance. Find the different ways it is used in a scriptural context. Some of these tools will tell you how many times the word is used in the Bible, each testament, the writings of different authors, and the different authors you are studying. For example, if you were studying the quality of meekness, you would discover that the word meek in the original Greek meant breaking something and bringing it under submission. The word was used to describe the training of horses that were used by the military. These horses will still have all the power and strength from their wild days, but it was now under the control of its master. Meekness, therefore, is not weakness. As you do a simple word study you ll probably discover little things like this. When you do, write it down. Step Four Find Some Cross-References Using cross-references will give you insights from other parts of the Bible. Remember the best way to interpret and understand scripture is with scripture. Use your concordance and topical Bible to find all the verses you can that are related to this character trait. Look up the word and some of it s synonyms in a concordance or a topical Bible, write out the cross-reference on the form in the appropriate section, and give a brief description of that verse. Then you can ask some of the following questions about the character trait you are studying as you meditate on the cross-references: What are the benefits this trait can bring me? What are some bad consequences this trait can bring me? What are benefits this trait can bring to others? What are some bad consequences this trait can bring to others? Is there any promise from God related to this trait? Is there any warning or judgment related to this trait? Is there a command related to the trait? What factors produce this trait? Did Jesus have anything to say about this character trait? What? What writer talked about this character trait the most? Is this trait listed with a group of other qualities? What is the relationship between them? What does this suggest? What Scriptures tell me directly what God thinks of this trait? Do I need more or less of this trait in my life? Does it come naturally to me?

4 After asking these questions (it could take some time) write a brief summary on what you have learnt. Always be sure to write out any difficulties you have with the verses you looked up, or questions you would like to see answered. Take it to God and in time He ll help you to understand. Step Five Do A Brief Biographical Study Now, go back to your study Bible and identify one person who showed this character trait in his or her life. Briefly describe this quality and write down the scriptures that refer to it. Ask these questions as you do this part of the study: What shows this character trait in his/her life? How did this character trait affect his/her life? Did the character trait help or hinder his/her growth to maturity? How? What results did it produce in his/her life? Once you ve asked these questions write down a brief description of how that person exemplified that character trait and list the references. To see this illustrated look at the sample form at the end of these notes. Step Six Find A Verse To Memorize Write down one of the verses from your cross-references or biographical study that really impacted or leapt out at you. This is a passage that you should commit to memorizing in the following weeks and it will come in handy when God shows you how you can this character trait to your life in a practical way. Step Seven Identify A Situation Or A Relationship To Work On Now we re getting to the application part of this Bible study. I want you to identify an area in your life in which God wants you to work on this character trait avoiding if it s negative, or building if it s positive. This can either be a situation or a personal relationship. If it is a situation, anticipate in advance what you will do when that situation arises again. Suppose you have been slothful or lazy. Your study on slothfulness has challenged you to get rid of this character trait in your life. As you think ahead you probably already know the places and times in your day where you ll be tempted to be lazy, so you should decide ahead of time what you are going to do about it. Set two alarms, one on the far side of the room to help you get up in the morning so you can spend time with God and be on time for work or school. If it s a relationship, determine ahead of time how you will respond in your interactions with that person. This person could be your wife, husband, parents, children, girlfriend, boyfriend, co-worker, or neighbor. Look for opportunities to deliberately work on that character trait in your relationships. Your goal should always be to have more mature relationships.

5 Step Eight Plan A Specific Project This is the action item of your Bible study and it s the actual working out of step seven. Think of a project that you will work on to build a positive quality in your life or get rid of a negative one. An example could be something like this. If you re working on the character trait of gratefulness you could make your project writing out grateful letters to five people who have been a blessing to you and saying, I m grateful for you because Remember your action item should be personal, practical, possible and measurable. Step Nine Follow Up Once you have actually completed your specific project come back and fill out this portion of your form. Write out what you discovered on your journey and what God worked out in your heart as you acted on what you learned. I guess, you could call this a testimony of how you walked out a practical truth from the Word of God. And feel free to share these testimonies with your friends and family members. It s always good to share with others what God is doing in our hearts. The Character Trait Study Form Like before, I ve included a journal form at the end of this lesson to help remind you of the steps and provide an organized place for you to record your insights. You can print of this form and compile all of your notes in a binder or files. Or you can go to and download a digital version of this form. A Good Place To Start Here are a few great character traits for you to consider studying: Positive Character Traits 1. Servanthood 2. Honesty 3. Humility 4. Diligence 5. Faithfulness 6. Discipline 7. Contentment Negative Character Traits 1. Laziness 2. Pride 3. Gossip 4. Worry 5. A critical spirit 6. Impatience 7. Fearfulness

6 The Character Trait Study (Sample) Date: Saturday, February 2 nd Characteristic: Boldness Definition Boldness An exhibition of courage and fearlessness; bravery; willingness to move ahead confidently in the face of danger. Opposite Quality and Definition Timidity, Fearfulness The shrink back from difficult or dangerous circumstance, to be hesitant. Word Study Old Testament: Hebrew Batah To be confident, to trust, to be secure Example: Proverbs 28:1 The righteous are as bold as a lion. New Testament: Greek Tharrheo To be confident, bold, or daring Example: Hebrews 13:6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man may do to me. Greek Parrcsiazomai To speak boldly or freely Example: Acts 19:8 Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. References used: Strong s Concordance on Cross-Reference John 7:26 Christ spoke boldly in the face of opposition Hebrews 3:16 Our confidence and boldness comes from knowing that the Lord will help us in difficult situations Acts 4:13 Peter and John were bold because they had been with Jesus Acts 4:29-31 When the Holy Spirit fills our life, we will be able to speak the Word of God boldly. 1 John 4:17-18 When Christ s love is in us, we will be bold because there is no fear in love. Perfect love casts out fear.

7 Biographical Study The apostle Paul is a major example of boldness. His entire life seemed to be characterized by the quality: As a young Christian in Damascus, he witnessed boldly for Christ (Acts 9:27) Everywhere he went, he shared his faith boldly in spite of opposition and persecution: - In Jerusalem (Acts 9:28-29) - In Pisidian Antioch (Acts 13:46) - In Iconium (Acts 14:3) - In Ephesus (Acts 19:8) - In Thessalonica (1 Thessalonians 2:2) He wrote bold letters to the churches (Romans 15:15) He asked people to pray that he would be bold in his preaching and teaching (Ephesians 6:19-20) His Christian testimony while in prison caused others to speak boldly for Christ (Philippians 1:14) He faced death boldly (Philippians 1:20) Key Verse So we say with confidence, The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? Hebrews 13:6 Identify A Situation Or A Relationship I ve been nervous about improving some relationships in my life because of some mistakes I ve made in them. I need to be more bold and proactive in improving those relationships. Plan A Project (Action Item) I m going to pray about my relationships and identify what I need to repent of and what I need to say and do to fix things. I am going to make this a matter of prayer for the next week and act on what God shows me to do. Follow Up I asked someone out for coffee that I needed to apologize too and I began to open up communication with them. It was awkward at first but it opened the door for the relationship to grow again. Thank you God for giving me the boldness to take that first step. I will continue to be bold and I believe it will improve from here.

8 The Character Trait Study Date: Characteristic: Definition Opposite Quality and Definition Word Study Cross-Reference

9 Biographical Study Key Verse

10 Identify A Situation Or A Relationship Plan A Project (Action Item) Follow Up