The Climax of Character Development
Dec 16, 2023"How can I achieve a breakthrough and overcome myself? I am tired of being a slave to my old and unwanted habits and addictions."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfBLUnTJoco (Listen or/and read here)
"Character is shaped by more than just overcoming trauma; personal transformation & growth have also been pivotal. Reflecting on my past self & friendships, I can hardly recognize the person I used to be. It's not just about overcoming trauma but also about evolving as a person."
In the process of developing strong character, defined personally as attaining a state of divine love, we meet various obstacles. The most challenging opponents we will face right before victory are the following: rejection, betrayal, and our emotions. And only as we learn to meet, overcome, and master these obstacles that we are made perfect in character, or love.
There exists a point in beyond which you can never go character development without the acquisition of self-control. This encompasses regulation over emotions, words, appetite, energy control, and reactions. The sole remedy for this predicament lies in the resolute decision to persist through adversity.
And the only way to overcome this issue is to make a decision to stick it out through perseverance. You will never arrive if you do not learn to persevere because every time you’re getting there, you’ll give up before you actually get there.
What does this Mean?
When you find yourself here, in this position, you are at the climax of your character development. Attaining the pinnacle of character development places you at a crucial juncture, teetering between a breakthrough and a precipitous fall. The outcome hinges hinges on your will—marked by decisive choices, your attitude—a mental posture that shapes responses, and the reservoir of knowledge—an arsenal of information wielded for goalkeeping, defense, or strategic strikes.
Climax as a Crossroad:
When you find yourself at the climax of your character development, you will always find yourself at a crossroad. It puts you in intense position. A position where you have to make a decision between this or that. Hot or cold. Yes or no. In or out. It is impossible to win this fight with lukewarmness or neutrality. It is either you got it or you do not. Either you master it or you do not. Either you win over rejection, betrayal, and your emotions, or they win over you.
In such instances, there is always a master and a slave. A dynamic of dominance and submission emerges, with one assuming the role of the master and the other the role of the slave. Each participant must define their position within this framework, intensifying the overall experience.
This differs markedly from the Canadian system, where recognition is bestowed even upon those finishing in 12th place. In this context, however, there is no room for multiple victors; only one can emerge triumphant. It is precisely this exclusivity that heightens the intensity of the situation. There is only room for one winner.
Understanding a Breakthrough:
The term "breakthrough" warrants brief exploration as it encapsulates the positive reaction to the climax of character development, leading to the defeat of rejection, betrayal, and emotional challenges.
Breakthrough Defined:
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A sudden, dramatic, and crucial discovery or development (Oxford language)
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A sudden advance, especially in knowledge or technique (Merriam-Webster)
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An act or instance of moving through or beyond an obstacle (Merriam-Webster)
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An instance of passing through a barrier (Merriam-Webster)
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Warfare (Merriam-Webster): A struggle between competing entities
Entity Defined:
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The existence or being of an inherent mental force or power (Merriam-Webster)
Consequences of Avoidance:
Blocking these challenging opponents impedes personal growth, resulting in self-sabotage and self-handicap, ultimately leading to a significant setback.
Meaning of Self-Sabotage & Self-Handicap:
Self-sabotage involves deliberately damaging or impairing oneself, often stemming from insecurity, self-hate, or lack of self-respect. Conversely, self-handicap manifests as a strategy to avoid effort, conflict, or discomfort to shield oneself from potential failure.
They not only engage in self-harming behaviors but also vividly illustrate a form of spiritual self-destruction.
Choosing not to decide is, in essence, a decision—a regrettable one. It inevitably leads to either a profound setback or an inescapable confrontation with the consequences of avoidance. Inaction forces you into a corner, compelling you to confront challenges with a cowardly mindset, which is hardly a promising way to begin a battle.
Navigating the Situation:
Effective character development necessitates control over one's emotions, words, appetite, energy, and reactions. Perseverance becomes the linchpin for overcoming these challenges.
Perseverance Defined:
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Persistence in pursuing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success (Oxford language)
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Continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition (Merriam-Webster)
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Steadfastness: Firmly fixed in place, belief, or adherence (Merriam-Webster)
Perseverance involves:
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Choosing to take a step beyond your previous effort, even if it's a small one
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Establishing a realistic and individualized pace
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Exercising patience
Methods for Self-Control:
1. Fasting:
A potent method to tame the physical, mental, and spiritual facets involves humbling oneself through fasting. Fasting serves as a comprehensive method to discipline the physical, mental, and spiritual aspects, constituting a paramount means of humility. The sensory faculties—taste, sight, smell, touch, and hearing—become agitated, and emotions clamor for satisfaction, urging indulgence in various desires. From temptations to snack consumption, sexual arousal through pornography, to impulsive responses, the fasting individual is tasked with silencing these urges and allowing them to wane. The objective is to weaken or extinguish these emotions and desires, ultimately breaking detrimental habits and fostering the demise of the ego.
2. Endurance:
Endurance involves engaging in protracted and challenging activities, an unavoidable aspect of personal development. Select an activity aligned with your preferences and strictly adhere to a predetermined timeframe with no exceptions. For instance, if you possess athletic inclinations, extend your jogging distance beyond the accustomed. If you are artistically inclined, dedicate more time to drawing, painting, writing, or speaking. Completing tasks, whether chores or responsibilities, should be accomplished promptly, without postponement. Endurance requires a commitment to finishing tasks in one continuous effort, analogous to completing a race, even if the pace slows towards the end.
3. Study and Meditation:
Engage in focused study and meditation as a means to enhance personal growth. Reading facilitates a deliberate slowdown, allowing for the gathering, absorption, and connection of information. Identify and address weaknesses through dedicated study, and upon acquiring essential information, contemplate how to integrate it into daily life. Recognize the individual variations in learning and pacing, requiring a creative approach to incorporate newfound knowledge systematically into your routine. Aligning with the military adage that "knowing is half the battle," studying and meditating on adversaries—understanding their dynamics, laws, and rights—becomes key to achieving victory in your personal challenges.
4. Examination and Testing:
Embracing trial and error, one must apply studied and meditated knowledge, scrutinizing results and outcomes. The assessment and testing phase of any endeavor depend on individual predispositions and pacing. Initial attempts are often characterized by a lack of expertise, marking a trial-and-error process. Apply the knowledge acquired through study and meditation, scrutinizing results and outcomes. Pose significant inquiries: Was the approach successful? If not, consider honesty, effort, and diligence in the attempt. Analyze what worked or failed, identifying triggers for reactions. Explore personal reactions in comparison to those in your household. Reflect on potential improvements, observations contributing to success, and areas requiring further understanding. Consider the necessity of stepping back for additional research.
5. Confession:
As proficiency grows in handling challenges, confidence increases through the acquisition of new techniques. Caution is advised not to succumb to overconfidence, as humility is essential. Drawing parallels with military communication, effective verbal expression becomes a pivotal factor in achieving victory. Expressing oneself forcefully to adversaries sets a commanding tone, compelling, deterring, or even dominating. Confessing knowledge and understanding the rules asserts authority, prompting opponents to acknowledge and yield.
6. Respecting One's Word:
Learn to shut your mouth unless it is useful or meaningful. Say what you mean and mean what you say.Exercise discretion in speech by prioritizing utility and meaning. Speak deliberately and avoid idle or empty words, recognizing the inherent power in language. Uphold the principle of saying what you mean and meaning what you say, refraining from the casual or unwise use of words. Practicing self-control involves mindfulness and intentionality in verbal expression. Adhere to a fundamental rule: if you commit to something verbally, honor that commitment. For instance, if impulsively agreeing to an outing with a friend, follow through even if circumstances change, unless it poses genuine harm. This discipline fosters careful consideration in speech, discouraging impulsive utterances and promoting mindful communication.
7. Developing Love for the Truth:
Developing a genuine love for the truth is imperative for success. Deliberate self-deception or dishonesty hinders progress and keeps one stagnant. Self-control necessitates self-awareness, an honest understanding of one's character, feelings, motives, and desires. Achieving goals requires laying out the facts transparently, as plans based on falsehoods inevitably fail. Embracing the truth, regardless of its difficulty or implications, is crucial for personal growth. Respecting and prioritizing the truth involves submission to it, irrespective of personal opinions, feelings, or discomfort, reflecting a commitment to follow it, even when challenging or costly.
Achieving self-control and character development demands a strategic and disciplined approach. Perseverance, coupled with methods such as fasting, endurance, study, and meditation, examination and testing, confession, and truthfulness, serves as the path toward a breakthrough. The journey involves navigating the crossroads of character development with a resolute commitment to mastering one's self and overcoming formidable adversaries.
"Character is not a gift, it's a victory. You must succeed in dealing with the obstacles ahead of you to achieve it. Character is overcoming yourself."
Reinforcement through Scriptures
Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.
James 1:12 ESV / 378 helpful votes
Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
But hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined.
For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure
Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.
But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back.
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,
Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment.
As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.
The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded.”
Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
And knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness,
Being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.
If indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Yet the righteous holds to his way, and he who has clean hands grows stronger and stronger.
Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.
Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
And endurance produces character, and character produces hope,
I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.
Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.
Author: Kei-Shawonna
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