A distinctive is a characteristic of one person or thing, and so serving to distinguish it from others.
We are learning to grow up into all things in Christ. Our declared intent is an alignment with the purpose of God to make us in his image. All our words and actions must be evaluated through that outcome. Do our words reveal Jesus? Do our actions demonstrate his presence?
The mentoring of believers falls into two main categories. Firstly, the character recognition that determines if a person is wholly following God’s nature, and secondly, the ministry designation which determines their capacity to move in a high level of spiritual authority and power. The following are the distinctives that we must protect and appropriate if we are to walk in his footsteps.
Character recognition involves compassion. If we are intent upon demonstrating the true personality of God, we must deal with other people the way we want to Lord to deal with us. Real believers work hard at grace. We examine it, meditate on it, and embrace the beauty of it in our own relationship with the father. What we enjoy from the father we must celebrate everywhere we go. Grace is about empowerment. Enabling people to see themselves as God sees them as an essential requirement for anyone who loves the Lord Jesus.
Grace extends both mercy and forgiveness. What would it look like for us to be known for the quality of mercy that truly represents the Lord Jesus? Compassion is the companion of mercy. Fruit is always in the cluster, like grapes. The fruit of the Spirit hangs out together. They overlap easily. That is their strength. They can never be isolated.
Truly, we never know where one ends, and another begins. When one is practiced strongly it will reveal another in the actions. Grace reveals mercy which in turn promotes compassion; a readiness to forgive. Compassion without the remissions of sins is nonfunctional.
Unforgiveness hardens the heart, which makes people vulnerable to bitterness, resentment, and cynicism. The father is making our hearts soft so that the fruit of the Spirit can grow easily. The fruit of the Spirit is more powerful weapon against the enemy than the gifts of the Spirit. Internal fruit creates an environment within that overcomes everything external.
When the environment within is established thoroughly in Christ, then the external atmosphere it creates overcomes anything against it. One person walking with God is always in the majority, because presence is majestic and sovereign. Every knee must bow to presence.
Grace, mercy, and forgiveness traveled together in compassion. It is a major distinctive (characteristic) that we need to pursue, develop, and make our own. Without compassion our character would destroy what our gift has built.
Another distinctive cluster is humility, which is accompanied by gentleness, kindness, and goodness. Without a softness of heart, the people around us are not safe. The majesty of God is always attached to his goodness. God is good! He is supreme, the Lord of Lords and King of Kings and he is good. He is sovereign, far above all, and he is good.
He is benevolent and beneficial. Everyone he touches with grace is strengthened immeasurably. His love is beneficial to every area of life. His goodness nourishes our soul. His kind, gracious, unselfish disposition empowers us to trust his nature. His righteousness means that he is only able to do what is right.
We must receive goodness in order to demonstrate it. People who love truth more than goodness just don’t get it! Truth is focused on God’s nature. What God says comes out of who he is in himself. Words reveal nature. Pharisees are incapable of becoming like God. Nicodemus had to sneak out at night just to have a conversation (John 3). Pharisaical relationships are toxic. People who love truth but have no grace are devotedly to be avoided. They are harsh, dictatorial, and unwholesome. They seek the detriment of others, not their redemption. A pharisee is mostly self-righteous and superior. They lack humility and that is their undoing.
Without humility, our attempts at spirituality aid the enemy at the expense of the people of God. Humility is rooted in goodness, kindness, and gentleness. That is a powerful combination which is full of empowerment, release, and freedom. We cannot speak of change without loving people into their freedom. Even the way that we speak must represent God’s heart.
Speaking the truth in love is a sign of growth in the nature of God (Ephesians 4: 15). Anyone can speak truth, even the enemy (2 Corinthians 11: 14-15). Speaking truth in love is a credential of true spirituality. It informs people that we have not just met Christ, but we have given ourselves gladly to the process of being made in his image. Loving kindness is a wonderful attribute of God. We are protected as we grow in him. His kindness is considerate (he remembers that we are dust and knows our weaknesses) generous, thoughtful and affectionate. When he disciplines us, it is for the sake of love. Discipline without love is punishment. Jesus became sin on our behalf. We are free to make mistakes and learn from him.
If we’re not free to make mistakes, then we are captive. Children growing up are encouraged to try, to learn and to become confident. Such children will make well balanced, thoughtful, decent adults. The joyful part of learning would never make shame or blame a tactic in development. Kindness loves growth and freedom. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. When we are mentoring distinctives in people, we are cultivating growth in the very nature of God. Gentleness is a huge part of vocal ministry. Paul often used the language of entreaty. The word beseech is seen constantly in his writings and his approach to people.
Scripture is clear (Ephesians 4: 29-5: 2, Colossians 3: 12-17, 1 Peter 4: 8-9, 1 Corinthians 13) all entreat us to live in compassion and it’s associate affections. We are to clothe ourselves in humility towards one another (1 Peter 5: 5). Humility and its characteristics are distinctives that require careful fellowship with the Holy Spirit.
A third distinctive is intimacy. We can tell a lot about a church just by sitting in the worship service for a few weeks. Does the worship team have to work hard to encourage people to praise and rejoice? Are the songs up to date with what the Holy Spirit is doing? How many people are engaged in Thanksgiving? What is the atmosphere that the congregation has developed in praise? Is it inspiring and influential? Or is it flat and slightly depressing?
When mentoring people, we should consider the quality of their thanks, praise, and rejoicing. Joy is who God is; rejoicing is our response to who God is. What are they thankful for this time? What aspect of the nature of God would bring that easily and wonderful into praise? Spend some time rejoicing with them and listen to their heart. Ask them for a time of personal praise, no warning. People can get themselves ready for praise if they are forewarned. We should be able to call our distinctives when required. However, a true character distinctive is always a lifestyle choice, not merely a life support option.
Rejoicing is ongoing and contagious. Rejoice always. And in everything, give thanks. Praise the Lord at all times. God is looking for worshippers. Intimacy is the lifeblood of faith. If we practice intimacy, trust is ever-present and faith always accessible. We all need to be gently challenged about our practice of intimacy and our intention to upgrade our practice into a way of life.
Ideally, every disciple should be able to give a short talk on the importance and power in rejoicing as a lifestyle. If they are not confident at speaking, they should be able to write an inspiring and influential piece. It must come from the heart, not the head, that’s the point. What are we doing this year in intimacy that is new? What difference has our latest upgrade meant in our relationship with the Lord?
Another distinctive is obviously righteousness, particularly in connection with integrity and honor. Doing the right thing is important training and development for all of us. The world will always weasel its way out of commitment. It will choose expediency rather than integrity. We live in a blame and shame culture where someone is always at fault, and everyone looks for a scapegoat.
Honor is vital in the Kingdom. A culture of honor that seeks to uplift, encourage, speak well of and esteem others, produces superb growth conditions. Being principled and fair is important. Creating an environment of mutual respect and dignity where we can guard one another’s reputations and provide favor to those in need is the essence of a good church community.
Guard against insecurity, meanness, and disrespect. Do not allow shame, condemnation, scorn, or any other behavior that is offensive to the Lord Jesus Christ. Can a fountain bring forth Sweetwater and bitter (James 3: 12)? Can a fig tree produce olives, or a vine produce figs? We are known by our fruits. What fruit of the Spirit is operating in person’s life? That signifies currently who they are in Jesus and where they are in relation to the Holy Spirit.
Lack of honor makes us potentially dangerous. Honor is a clear sense of what is morally right, and it is acting towards others from a place of moral obligation. Honor is not situational. It is about who we are within our own hearts. It is concerned with how we personally show up. It is doing the right thing, even to our own disadvantage.
Integrity is concerned with internal consistency. It is the state of being whole in terms of Christ’s righteousness and operating from that place instinctively. If we have to weigh up the options before choosing to be full of integrity, then we have further development to make.
Integrity and honor do not require praise or any form of acclaim. To do right is the least we can do, not the best. Integrity is the minimum requirement to be an ambassador of Christ. It’s nice to have something profoundly look up to, aim for, and measure oneself against. Our intention in the progression and improvement of honor is to make it an intuitive, instinctive response of the heart. I admire anyone who’s learning to be mastered by honor. In today’s climate of dishonesty, it’s a hard road.
We all need mentors who model honor and integrity and who will lovingly challenge us to become instinctive in our righteousness.
Another powerful distinctive is persistence. This is the ability to continue firmly in a course of action no matter what is standing against us. Endurance is a time honored sign of maturity and constant behavior. The attributes of persistence are patience, faithfulness, and self-control. Patience is the capacity to remain even tempered in the face of extreme provocation and injustice. Those who will live godly lives in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. As well as the normal problems of delays, strife, tribulation, warfare, and life in an increasingly troubled world, there is constant critical input around the ministry from a variety of people. Longsuffering and Patience is essential. It must be wholeheartedly embraced. It needs to be thought through from every angle. Patience creates the internal space to buy us time to make sure we can respond cheerfully.
Self-control is the key to negativity. Anyone can become angry, negative, reactionary, and harsh. Restraint is the prime part of patience. It allows us to compose ourselves internally. Self-control and joy make good partners. When we count it all joy and shout for joy at persecution, we are routinely protecting our hearts.
1Peter 4: 12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing; So that also at the revelation of his glory, you may rejoice with exaltation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rest upon you.
Fellowship with God affects character. When our fellowship is in a low place, we tend to look at difficult circumstances as negatives to avoid. When our relationship is good, we see them rightly as shortcuts to be taken into a higher realm of glory and fellowship. They create momentum by accelerating our growth by the Spirit.
The difficult aspects here are: fiery ordeal, testing, strange things, sufferings of Christ and reviled for the name of Jesus. The positives are: revelation of his glory, rejoice with exaltation, you are blessed. The Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.
In a place where the enemy is doing his best to bring us low, the father commits his best to bring us into a high place of encounter and experience. I am persecuted by well meaning Christians who firmly believe that I am apostate in leading people astray. My life has been harassed by unkind, ungracious, unloving judgmental comment. I am so blessed.
Many years ago, the father showed me how to respond to him when these things occurred. He taught me to dance. He taught me to celebrate in him. He taught me to ask for my next upgrade in revelation, glory, and exaltation. Patience is easier when we are celebrants. He taught me how to use opposition to receive blessing.
My life is undeniably more blessed, not because of my detractors, but because of how the Holy Spirit uses them to my advantage.
Detractors never realized that when they are pointing out someone’s shortcomings, they are also revealing their own, only much more emphatically. It is possible to read what they write and feel sorry for them. It is possible to hear how they speak and realize that often their heart is in a worse place than the person they are opposing.
It is ironic that the critic may be in for a tougher time than the one they are criticizing (Matthew 7: 1-5). One who was criticized will receive the grace to be transformed by it. The critic may not perceive the grace available to repent and be changed themselves. When we justify unloving behavior because of the truth, we make our hearts more accessible to the enemy than we do to God. This is the beginning of pharisaism.
Patience harasses the enemy. Rejoicing makes him weaker. Peace affects his focus. The enemy feeds off our reaction. It stimulates and energizes him. He loves hate, abuse, anger, bitterness, rejection, and rage. He loves Christians to be enraged, especially at other believers. It makes his day. He loves accusation, strife, back biting, jealousy and envy. He feeds off every negative that we manifest. It fuels our carnality and strips us of grace and anointing.
There is a place in the Spirit set aside for us where we make the enemy confused. We worry him by our rest. We discourage him by our faith. We demoralize him with our joy. We depress him with our endurance. He is dispirited by our favor; we defeat him by our grace. Warriors win by staying fresher longer.
In the heat of battle, when faced with difficult circumstances, contending against impossible odds, warriors call up the majesty and supremacy of God that is already present in the secret place of their spirit. They have a warrior’s perception of the reality of God in the midst of provocation, attack and opposition.
We are learning to work with God who schedules our conflicts so that we can practice the art of overcoming. It is vital that we do not blur our focus. Warriors have clear perceptions, great insight and a heightened level of intuition because they follow the path of continual presence.
The issues of strife, trouble, slander, persecution, and opposition will always be with us. Use them well. Treat yourself to some self-control and patience. Be faithful to people who are hostile to our identity and message. God is kind, let us be the same. Persistence in these things can only accelerate our journey. Imagine using all that the enemy is doing, even through friendly fire to make us in God’s image. It is extremely satisfying.
One of our prime areas of distinctiveness is in our personal disposition in Christ. If we have the set a guard on certain areas of our life that would indicate that we still have serious ground to take regarding our spiritual lifestyle.
Setting a guard is responsible behavior as we are growing and developing. However, it is a part of the process and not the outcome of it. Many people imagine that they are properly covered if they have safeguards in place. The only effective deterrent to the flesh is death. The way we crucify the flesh is to only live in our new nature. Holiness is the only forceful deterrent to carnality. Sanctification is not just about making sure we are not vulnerable to the flesh. It is the process whereby the flesh is removed forever as a tangible hold on the baseline of our character.
What our personal disposition is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, then we develop a mindset that loves him above all else. Otherwise, we have a duality about us where we withhold a part of ourselves. It is a back door into our fortress that makes us susceptible to the sin habit. Our old nature is dead. Our flesh is our sin habit. It too must be crucified from our heart and mind.
Love God outrageously and we will discover what it means to be the beloved. Love, joy, and peace are the biggest signs of our personal disposition that is fully Christ centered. Our rejoicing in the Lord in any situation witnesses to people concerning the state of our heart. Our peace reduces negative personality to nothing as we lose the ability to be worried, anxious, or fearful.
Our mind is refreshed out of our personal disposition. We are renewed by our internal predisposition towards the nature of God. Every decision is made long before the circumstances arise that force us to choose. Do not wait for sin to appear before a decision is made about how to respond to its proposition. Settle it in the heart now. Pray over it and align yourself with the Holy Spirit. Then simply learn the pleasure in abiding. Dwelling and remaining in love, joy and peace is a simple, childlike discipline. Stay in the place of being the beloved. Do not allow the new man to move away from being presence oriented. We crucify the flesh, the sin habit, when we not only declare that we have died to our sin nature on the cross, but we also live as one fully alive to God. (Colossians 3: 3) we have died, and our life is hidden with Christ and God.
Our personal disposition of love, joy and peace carries us through each day and every circumstance. We abide in his nature and our own changes into his image. Recreate the world with a broad grin, happy heart, and good thoughts. It is our pleasure to learn the joy of abiding.
The final distinctive is concerned with power; Not anointing or authority (they belong to our ministry designation), but the way we use our personal strengths in our interactions with people. Obviously, there are positive and negative strengths that play a huge part in our decision making and our relationships with people around us.
Our positive strengths of courage, fortitude, focus, stamina, energy, wellness, and boldness are all powerful help and support to the people we travel with in the course of life. It’s important to face everything with courage; otherwise, circumstances will intimidate us into giving up and not pressing through. Positive strengths ensure that we do not become victim minded and weak. Focus empowers our concentration, improves our personal vision, and creates the necessary energy to realize fulfillment. Positive strength enables us to become confident, assertive, and bold in our approach to possibilities. Confident people go out to meet life rather than waiting for it to come to them.
Positive strength is submitted to the Holy Spirit and therefore aligns itself to the encouragement and edification of others. We love people to do well. We do not merely consider our own lives but to think positively about how we may upgrade, increase, and advantage other people. We love how the Lord works with us and we are willing partners in the development of people around us.
As each strength is proven, we must use it to mentor and disciple others. A mentor is a teacher, advisor, coach and friend to people, across a wide range of issues and circumstances. Generally, they have an experience of life that is broad and deep.
Negative strength occurs because we have not fully embraced the power of the cross in our personal lives. There has been no point of real brokenness that is taking place in our relationship with the Lord. Brokenness comes to us all. Without it, we cannot enter the high places of God’s trust and presence.
There are two things that he is doing with us in regard to trust. Firstly, we are learning to trust God in all things. We’re learning dependency on his faithfulness. We are learning not to panic, be anxious or fretful. Secondly, he is bringing us to a place where he can trust us. The father trusts what is manifested of the son in our lives. He does not trust our flesh or carnal behavior.
When our natural powers are not broken into the way of the Spirit, then we are a liability in the work of the Kingdom. We will use our natural strength, our learned behavior, and the ways of successful people, particularly in the world, to get what we want and to have our way.
We strong arm people. We push them into a corner. We intimidate and browbeat. We project our own image and presence. We criticize, use sarcasm, and negative humor to humiliate and bully people into submission. We ridicule people with our intelligence, knowledge, and education. We belittle people, make them feel inferior. We make them overawed by who we are instead of upgrading how they can perceive themselves in the Spirit.
We do not have to be forceful to be strong. We can just withdraw our affection and approval. Withdrawing love and support is often what a strong person does when things are not going their way. We become a stronger person masquerading as a weak one. We sulk, whine, and play the victim. We can use exasperation and frustration to point out problems where we take no responsibility in the issue. Our line is- it wasn’t my fault that this happened. Negative straining is the disease of the church in the ministries in general. These are the character flaws that need to be broken. When our natural powers are not yoked with the Holy Spirit’s character, we are a handicap to the work of God we represent.
The antidote to negative strength is meekness. We need to be firm and decisive but with peaceful, patient intent. meekness is not weakness; It is strength under control. Meekness encapsulates all of our strengths and puts our shortcomings firmly under the rule of the Holy Spirit. Meekness is the consequence of God’s true nature uppermost in our heart and mind. It does not see people as obstacles, or objects to move around in our own impulse. It views people as partners who can be inspired and influenced by the Holy Spirit. A mindset rooted in meekness looks for opportunities not obstructions. It listens, learns, and empowers people to refocus.
Meekness allows other people to find a place of rest and peace as they are developed. Meekness can provide a joy, and energy and a desire to be cultivated in the hearts of people.
The meekness (gentleness and humility) of Jesus takes away our weariness and false burden bearing (Matthew 11: 28-30).
Our life in Christ is essentially an exploration and discovery of delight. We rest in his acceptance of us in Christ (Ephesians 1: 3). When people are living from God instead of towards him, the meekness of Christ will powerfully confirm and establish our identity in Jesus.
Meekness is the ability to create alignments by investing in the atmosphere with an attitude of togetherness. It is a paradox of being firm and decisive with humility and fairness. It does not take control but has the capacity to create movement and momentum. It seeks agreement without coercion and cooperation without being domineering. Meekness has no ego.
Negative strength is often full of self-interest and self-awareness. We view ourselves as more important than others and believe that our voice must be heard. Meekness believes that we are part of the dialogue but not the only contributor.
When we examine ourselves, we must take an honest look at the positives and negatives regarding the strengths in our personality. What needs to be broken in us so that we can lead without negative power? If we do not value influence and inspiration, we may not be as powerful in our organizations as we think.
Every situation and circumstance is about power, love, relationship, integrity and the nature of God. Negative strength defines our limitations and reveals our weaknesses, often in a glaring manner. Strength plus meekness is a creative power that overcomes through loving relationships, inspirational dialogue, and partnerships of mutual love and support.
When we examine our personal distinctives, there is seldom a decent hiding place! The best way to determine how we are doing in character terms is to go through these distinctives with friends, leaders, and mentors. We need objective honesty. Often our own assessment is too subjective. What is our normal pattern of behavior? We can all be amazing in short bursts. However, life is a marathon, not a sprint.
The personal distinctives are:
Compassion-involving grace, mercy, and forgiveness.
Humility-including kindness, goodness, and gentleness.
Intimacy-embracing rejoicing, Thanksgiving, praise, and worship.
Righteousness-comprising honor and integrity.
Persistence-incorporating patience, faithfulness and self-control.
Personal disposition-comprising love, joy, and peace.
Power-encompassing strength and meekness.
As a mentor, this is my own personal checklist regarding the development of character.
Maintaining our distinctives makes us hard to beat and much more likely to become overcomers in the battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil.