Character is Transformed by Life's Problems

God’s purpose for man’s life is not pleasure, personal fulfilment, peace of mind, comfort or even earthly happiness. The ultimate purpose of life is found in the person of Jesus Christ. The life of Christ is the ultimate example of spiritual and character maturity. Man was created to become that life. All of creation was made for this specific purpose; for man to become like Christ. We are not meant to become clones of Christ. God created human being uniqueness. Every human has a unique personality and we are not meant to lose that aspect of our existence. It is our character that must become like Christ’s character. Life is a character development boot camp. Man does not take things into eternity but he does take his soul which comprises his character. Character develops when it is stretched. Character is built by moving out of our comfort zones.   Man struggles with life because he does not understand that it is a life of conflict. Character is revealed and transformed by life’s problems. When we moan, groan and complain about life’s problems, it is basically because we do not understand the purpose of life. Life is designed to be a problem. Life is a battleground of conflict. This conflict causes us pain and suffering. We are meant to have pain and suffering in life. Acceptance of this is not defeatist, not fatalistic, or negative thinking, giving up; it is a sign of true maturity.  But we run away and try and shut out problems. This is the cause of so much more suffering and pain within us. Most mental anguish can be traced to the fact that we want to escape life’s problems. We fight with ourselves over life’s problems.  The significant majority of people with mental neurosis are really seeking the avoidance of legitimate suffering.