Character Over Gifts – Equipping The Kodeshim

יֵצֶר

Our gifts, strengths, and anointing are given by YHWH without repentance, but they were always meant to be used in service to others through mature character, exemplified through the life of Yeshua haMashiach.

How should we prepare our mind?

The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in You.

Isaiah 26:3 (NASB 20)

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:2 (NASB 20)

There are many ways to figure out who YHWH made us to be and how we fit into community. Unfortunately, much of the world’s info on this topic either reduces or elevates mankind to a place that they do not belong – either he or she is a former animal or other non-intelligent organism or is a god, who needs only the right guidance to become enlightened to godhood. However, I have found that there are some useful tools which can be used in a limited fashion, still subject to what we read in the Bible.

This test is my favorite, based on the popular MBTI test. However, the way the results are often used is close to useless and can actually encourage immaturity instead of maturity in community.

Instead, understanding your functioning within the general category of type can, in turn, help you understand a limited aspect of you as a human being: how you prefer to learn and communicate with others so that you have words to use to explain to others when there is misunderstanding. But these results should not be used to excuse immaturity or forestall growth – there is a wide variability even within a single type due to this factor. With this in mind, see the following diagrams.

Plugging in these functions of type into the car model can also help you understand when immaturity is causing you problems and how to improve. This is explained in much more detail in Personality Hacker’s book below, while also including diagrams, descriptions, and suggestions for growth for each type.

Similarly, finding your strengths can help you figure out more of the positive aspects of the unique person you are, even if these strengths show up differently in what you do, compared to others with the same strength. But remember: sometimes YHWH refines us through what we are NOT good at and helps us thereby to hone the gifts of the Spirit. When we are able to overcome in trials that contain aspects that we know we are not good at, we know it is not of ourselves…in these, He is strong in our weaknesses. You allow the supernatural to occur in your life when you are willing to do what does not come naturally!

Moving on to another test I find useful, using the Strengthsfinder test in community can show how YHWH has built each of us to fulfill a function in His body. No function is greater than another; they are all needed. Sometimes, there are gaps because we are overly focused on one area instead of another, but this is where we support each other and not accuse each other of not doing as well as what we ourselves are good at doing. Let us value all gifts.

But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. How strange a body would be if it had only one part! ...The eye can never say to the hand, "I don't need you." The head can't say to the feet, "I don't need you." In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad. All of you together are Christ's body, and each of you is a part of it.

1 Corinthians 12:18-19, 21-27 (NLT)

So how does understanding our unique aspects, and that of others, help us in community? For one thing, we must realize we are not bricks but unhewn stones, built up to be the Temple of YHWH.

So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God's holy people. You are members of God's family. Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.

Ephesians 2:19-22 (NLT)

A historical example – at the Tower of Babel – of how bricks were valued even above human life is demonstrated in the book of Jasher, a book mentioned by Joshua and Samuel:

And the building of the tower was unto them a transgression and a sin, and they began to build it, and whilst they were building against the Lord God of heaven, they imagined in their hearts to war against him and to ascend into heaven. And all these people and all the families divided themselves in three parts; the first said We will ascend into heaven and fight against him; the second said, We will ascend to heaven and place our own gods there and serve them; and the third part said, We will ascend to heaven and smite him with bows and spears; and God knew all their works and all their evil thoughts, and he saw the city and the tower which they were building. And when they were building they built themselves a great city and a very high and strong tower; and on account of its height the mortar and bricks did not reach the builders in their ascent to it, until those who went up had completed a full year, and after that, they reached to the builders and gave them the mortar and the bricks; thus was it done daily. And behold these ascended and others descended the whole day; and if a brick should fall from their hands and get broken, they would all weep over it, and if a man fell and died, none of them would look at him.

Jasher 9: 25-28

But don’t get it twisted, the bricks only had value via the means for their end! As we understand the concept of who we really are as an “unhewn stone”, we realize how we must treat ourselves and each other and how the love outlined in I Corinthians 13 must be demonstrated.

If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn't love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God's secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn't love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn't love others, I would have gained nothing. Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless. When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. Three things will last forever--faith, hope, and love--and the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 (NLT)

Real love demonstrated in community must not focus on or prioritize the gifts we have, but instead, it should focus on our development of maturity in loving others. This is demonstrated in the Bible with the covenant friendships between Ruth and Naomi (Ruth 1:16-17), and David and Jonathan (I Samuel 18-23).

Don't just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When God's people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you. Don't curse them; pray that God will bless them. Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with each other. Don't be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don't think you know it all! Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, "I will take revenge; I will pay them back," says the LORD. Instead, "If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads." Don't let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.

Romans 12:9-21 (NLT)

Maturity is reflected in being real with ourselves and with others, not just “hanging out” and checking off our religious duties for the week. Nothing we (purportedly) do for YHWH is more important than what we do for each other, since Yeshua tells us that we show Him that we love Him by our service to each other.

And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. …If someone says, "I love God," but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don't love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their Christian brothers and sisters.

1 John 4:17, 20-21 (NLT)

And this love needs to be concrete and practical…

If we love our Christian brothers and sisters, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead. Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don't have eternal life within them. We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion--how can God's love be in that person? Dear children, let's not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.

1 John 3:14-18 (NLT)

If we understand the context of when John wrote this book, we find that he wrote his gospel first, then Revelation, then 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John as encouragement to believers after what we learn from his apocalyptic writing. So let us read it, study it, and apply it! We are in that time period where love of each other will be much more important than how much we have “prepped” our physical possessions.

When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! …Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit's leading in every part of our lives. Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.

Galatians 5:19-23, 25-26 (NLT)

And because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will become cold.

Matthew 24:12 (NASB 20)

How can we prove we have the Holy Spirit, or the Ruach haKodesh, in our lives? By demonstrating supernatural characteristics that make us spiritually mature. In other words, something beyond human strength. This is shown in loving our stubborn brothers and sisters, and by loving our enemies, well. We do not serve our selves but put each other first.

The following video and the other videos in the playlist are helpful if it seems like your understanding of scripture is interfering with true maturity of yourself or others.