What makes up a persons character is the summary of their thoughts, beliefs, repeated actions and words which reveals the contents of the persons heart. It is the substance of what makes a person who they are. This is what God sees and He works to transform the inner man, forming Christ in us. The question here is— how is it that God transforms our character?

Be Born-Again

First, we are made a new creation, born-again, given a new heart, filled with the Holy Spirit. We’ve put our faith in Jesus Christ, gotten baptized, and begun taking up our cross and following Jesus.

The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin. The mind is being renewed through the reading and doing of God’s word. We are sanctified, washed by His word. We are working out our salvation.

Trials & Tests

Then, the deeper work is done when your faith is tested. Your obedience is tried by fire. This is the point at which we have a choice: do we humble ourselves, submit and obey and do God’s will or do we operate in our flesh. Will you submit to God and allow the fire of the trial to consume all impurities so that His reflection may be seen in you?

Proverbs 17:3 says, “The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, But the LORD tests hearts.” Key word here is “tests”. When given tests we pass or we fail. So if a pattern keeps repeating, your faced with the same test time and time again, it could mean this is a test of character. You have to repeat a test when you don’t pass the first time. If this is the case, this is God’s mercy and our Father is faithful to give wisdom to those who ask.

Like it says in James 1:2-4 (AMP) “Consider it nothing but joy whenever you fall into various trials. Be assured that the testing of your faith [through experience] produces endurance [leading to spiritual maturity, and inner peace]. And let endurance have its perfect result and do a thorough work, so that you may be perfect and completely developed [in your faith], lacking in nothing.”

Love & Devotion

Character is formed in us through devotion. The first commandment God gave Moses can be found in Exodus 20:3, “You shall have no other gods before Me.” It tells us to put God first. We mold ourselves, prioritize and build our lives around what we are devoted to. Any idols we have in our lives that we set up altars to in our hearts and minds will steal from our devotion to the Lord God Almighty. Be reminded, God tests the hearts.

This is reconfirmed to us when Jesus responded to a question in Matthew 22:36-40 (AMP) — “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” And Jesus replied to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for others].’ The whole Law and the [writings of the] Prophets depend on these two commandments.”

What forms Godly character in us is our complete love and devotion to Jesus Christ. And as Jesus stated in John 14:23 “If a person loves me, he will obey my teaching, and my Father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with him [i.e., in the person of the indwelling Holy Spirit]“. God works in us, through us, and is all around us producing holiness in the very substance of who we are. Christ is formed in us and this becomes evident in how we love others.

Friendship

So much of who we are is shaped by who we spend the most time with. Just as we are influenced by our friends, our greatest influence should always be our friendship with Jesus. A large part of how God forms our character is simply through the time we spend with Him. Him getting to know us, us getting to know Him. It all comes down to having a real relationship with God.

A deeply intimate relationship is dependent on mutual trust, commitment, and sacrifice. He is our All in All meaning He is our Father, Friend, Husband, Savior, Provider, Redeemer— our everything. The closer we walk with Jesus the more prominently we reflect His image of purity and holiness in our character, it will happen organically. The beautiful thing is, we don’t loose our individuality as He forms our character, He brings wholeness to who we are. Beautifying the humble with salvation.

The ultimate truth is, we are designed to love Jesus. He has already proven His agape love for us through the reconciling work of the cross. 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NLT) states, “So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image”.

"For from Him [all things originate] and through Him [all things live and exist] and to Him are all things [directed]. To Him be glory and honor forever! Amen." 
Romans 11:36