God’s goal is your character, not your comfort

Many religions and New Age philosophies promote the old lie that we are divine or can become gods. Let me be absolutely clear: You will never become God or even a god.
That prideful lie is Satan’s oldest temptation. Satan promised Adam and Eve that if they followed his advice, they would be “as gods” (Genesis 3:5 KJV).
This desire to be a god shows up every time we try to control our circumstances, our future, and people around us. But as creatures, we will never be the Creator. God doesn’t want you to become a god; He wants you to become godly, taking on His values, attitudes, and character. We are meant to “take on an entirely new way of life — a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces His character in you” (Ephesians 4:22-24).
God’s ultimate goal for our life on Earth is not comfort but character development.
He wants us to grow up spiritually and become like Christ. Becoming like Christ does not mean losing our personality or becoming a mindless clone.
God created our uniqueness, so he certainly doesn’t want to destroy it. Christlikeness is all about transforming our character, not our personality. God wants us to develop the kind of character described in the Beatitudes of Jesus, the fruit of the Spirit, Paul’s great chapter on love, and Peter’s list of the characteristics of an effective and productive life (Matt 5:1-12; Gal 5:22-23; 1 Cor 13; 2 Peter 1:5-8).
Every time we forget that character is one of God’s purposes for our life, we will become frustrated by our circumstances. You’ll wonder, “Why is this happening to me? Why am I having such a difficult time?”
One answer is that life is supposed to be difficult! It’s what enables us to grow. Remember, Earth is not Heaven.
Many Christians misinterpret Jesus’ promise of the “abundant life” (John 10:10) to mean perfect health, a comfortable lifestyle, constant happiness, full realisation of our dreams, and instant relief from problems through faith and prayer.
In other words, they expect the Christian life to be easy. They expect heaven on earth.
This self-absorbed perspective treats God as a genie who simply exists to serve us in our selfish pursuit of personal fulfilment.
But God is not our servant, and if we fall for the idea that life is supposed to be easy, we will either become severely disillusioned or we will live in denial of reality.
Never forget that life is not about us! We exist for God’s purposes, not vice versa. Why would God provide heaven on Earth when He’s planned the real thing for us in eternity? God gives us our time on Earth to build and strengthen our character for Heaven. Are we building our lives in God while on earth?
Does our character reflect that of God our Creator? Whom do we portray most of the time in our daily lives?
Remember, when your head becomes too big never forget your roots. Return to God.

BK Dara
Baimuru, GP