Character required to carry the fire!

By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins. So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away. Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:3-11 NLT)

God is more interested in the development of our character and us becoming Christ-like than He is our career. We are called to develop our character so that we may sustain the position of influence that His gifts and callings promote us to. Many men and women have fallen from a place that the gifting in them has exalted them to, but their lack of character has caused this to be a temporary assignment. Since salvation, Holy Spirit, gifts of the Spirit, five fold ministry, and anything else we receive from Father are all gifts, we must be diligent about developing our character to correctly carry the glory of our Father! Just as no one would want to drink pure water from a dingy, dirty glass, neither do men want to hear the “Gospel Message” from a sin saturated saint. It takes a steady hand to carry a full cup!
May we humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, resist the devil, crucify our flesh and the lusts thereof, so that we might rise and walk in a life that reflects the character and power that brings fame, and not shame to the Name of Jesus!