Becoming a Servant for His Glory: A 5-Day Devotional by Dr. Miguel NunezExemplo

DAY 5: When It Comes to Service, Character Matters 

God’s appointed leaders do not develop their integrity after being appointed. Their integrity precedes them.

We can see this in the counsel that Jethro gave to his son-in-law, Moses, in Paul's words to Timothy; and we see it in the requirements of being an elder in 1 Timothy 3. 

A pastor or an elder "must not be a new convert, or he might become conceited and fall into the condemnation of the Devil.” A person should wait a while after his conversion before aspiring to be an elder. The first condition of being an elder is that the candidate must be above reproach. When someone begins to serve, he can be sure that there will be much responsibility, and with responsibility comes power, influence, privileges, and rights which the character of the immature will not be ready to handle.

Again, we can see that the testimony of the Scriptures is that character is required in order to handle service, rights, privileges, influence, and power. God's grace is what makes possible all that we get to do; but once we move from God's grace to something more earthly, we could say that everything is related to character, and the formation of character takes time. Our God is never in a hurry, as we have already said. 

The Bible is Christ-centered from beginning to end, and still, when Christ came, he had to wait some 30 years to preach his first sermon. The One who is the subject and object of the entire Biblical revelation had to wait 30 years. Why? Because his time had not yet come. God has a time for everything under the sun, but man wants things to be done according to his own timeline.  

Paul waited some seven to ten years after his Damascus road experience to take his first missionary journey. In the Old Testament, God stipulated 30 years of age as the minimum age at which a priest could serve. We do not believe that God randomly chose that age, because our God is a God of purpose. Without a doubt, in the history of the Church there have been people who began serving God as prophets and preachers even during their adolescence. Jeremiah was one of those prophets, and Charles Spurgeon was one of those preachers. But we have not had many Jeremiahs, nor have we had many Spurgeons. Moreover, the exception does not create the rule.

God has emphasized character development all throughout His revelation. Even in our youth, God places an emphasis on character above all for those who desire to serve Him. Character is what will sustain us in crisis. We must represent God well before men. It is important for us "to be before we do."

This plan was adapted from another resource. Learn more at servantsforhisglory.com