Developing Character

Developing Character

Romans 5:3-5

            “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet.  Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved.”

These are the words of Helen Keller.  Her story is familiar to us.  Born with the ability to see and hear, at nineteen months she suffered an illness that took away both senses.  When Helen was seven, Anne Sullivan, a former student at the Perkins Institute for the Blind in Boston (herself visually impaired), became her teacher, thus beginning a long and—for both of them— rewarding relationship.

If anyone understood trial, suffering and adversity, it was Helen Keller.  Because she contracted the illness at such a young age, she had virtually no language skills to rely on.  Nevertheless, she persisted in her attempts to learn, becoming the first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree.  She went on to become a world famous lecturer and writer.  Her story is inspiring by any meaning of the word.

Keller was also a Christian, introduced to the religion by Phillips Brooks.  Less well-known is that she was also a member of the Socialist Party, a suffragette, and a pacifist—a rare combination then, and, in many parts of America, an even rarer combination today.

Because of her Christian faith, she would have been acquainted with Paul’s letters.  She must have, on more than one occasion, read his letter to the Romans, including the words of today’s Scripture.

“More than that, 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.”

Suffering to endurance to character to hope.  “Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened,” says Helen Keller—and we know the truth of these words.

Does this mean that God sends us suffering in order to toughen us up?  I don’t believe that.  I have a difficult time believing that anything but good gifts comes from God.  Does God allow trials and suffering to come our way?  I have trouble with this as well, although not as much as with the previous statement.  Perhaps God opens the door to let hard times in.  Perhaps God doesn’t open the door but doesn’t try to keep it shut either.  As Christians we do believe that God does not allow us to be faced with any temptation that we cannot resist—with God’s help, of course.

Regardless of the source of trials and suffering—and we will all face these over the course of our lives—there are two ways to react.  First, we can give up, give in, and surrender, allowing the hard times to overwhelm us.  Our other choice is to do what Helen Keller and Paul did:  rely on God’s love and strength to get us through.  If we take this path we will surely develop both endurance and character.  Furthermore, we will reach the place where God can use us to help others face and endure their own trials.

At the end of the road that begins with suffering we will find hope; not a wishy-washy kind of “I hope things will work out for me,” but a hope born of the character that our suffering has created.  This is the sure and certain hope that we will inherit the future that God has prepared for those who endure—like Paul.  Like Helen Keller.  Like me?  Like you?