Godly Character Traits in the Bible that Changed Me

If you and I were sitting across from each other with a cup of coffee, I’d tell you that life has had its mix of easy seasons and hard times. I desire to be a godly woman who reflects the character of God, for the glory of God. But I often see my heart wavering between my desires and the things that glorify God.

On a daily basis, I see God’s goodness, faithfulness, and love. And yet, I’ve had difficult times where I’ve wrestled with anxiety and depression, and I’ve lived in the tension of chasing dreams that looked good on the outside but turned out to be desires of the flesh. But I’ve also had times, by the grace of God, I’ve experienced the peace of Christ rule in my heart, which produced true contentment and joy in the place where the Lord has had me. Through it all, God has been patient — softening my heart, teaching me to put Him first, and reminding me that even in the mundane hours of our daily lives, there are opportunities to glorify God.

When we think of the Word of God, we know that its entirety (the Old Testament and the New Testament) is truth. There are attributes of God throughout all of scripture, and we know from verses like 1 John 2:6 and Leviticus 19:2 that we should walk as Christ walked and pursue holiness by living out these godly character traits. A reminder we may all need is this: we cannot pursue holiness and spiritual growth on our own doing. It is through God’s strength and the work of the Holy Spirit that we can change. The stories I share below are instances in my life where I did not marvel at God’s attributes, and it led to a lack of the fruit of the Spirit in my own life. I also share stories that highlight only a handful of Godly characteristics in the Bible, but the Bible is full of these characteristics woven throughout. After reading this post, take a moment to grab a cup of coffee (or tea!) and dive deeper into God’s word to study more about the character of God.

Anxiety & Depression

My struggle with anxiety and depression didn’t start with the pandemic, but it certainly grew heavier during those years. For the past six years, I’ve wrestled with mental health struggles that often made daily life feel exhausting. Struggles I never thought I would face. Isn’t that what someone else goes through, not me? I wasn’t just “having a rough week” — this was a long season of navigating sadness, loneliness, and lies. Every hardship I faced, I attributed to my anxiety and depression. I eventually just accepted that this is what I was dealing with, and I had no idea when it was going to change. What a hopeless place to be!!

But even there, the sovereignty of God met me. He reminded me of a favorite promise of His in 2 Corinthians 12:9 : “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” In my weakest hours, I experienced His grace most clearly. Healing from the anxiety, depression, panic attacks, and more did not come right away. But day by day, I noticed the Holy Spirit nudging me and reminding me to turn to God, to lean into community and the body of Christ, and to replace lies with His truth. 

Peace

When I started “putting on” godly character traits, as the apostle Paul says in Colossians 3, I noticed a quick change. I love the verbiage to “put on” compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience (Colossians 3). It reminds me that it is a choice to put these godly traits on. I don’t just do it one time and then every day that follows is a breeze. I must choose to let the peace of Christ rule in my heart. That characteristic of peace? That is a breath of fresh air compared to anxiety. Literally a change from feeling like I have a brick on my chest and can’t calm my anxious thoughts, to being able to sit down and enjoy my surroundings. 

How did I see peace become a godly character trait in my own life? Romans 12:2 played a significant part in this. It says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Our thoughts are something we can surrender to our Heavenly Father. I think I will always struggle with anxiety to some extent. It tends to be a natural response to situations, almost on a daily basis. But let’s go back to that Romans 12:2 verse! Whenever those anxious thoughts or lies pop into my head, I can tell the Lord about them and think on things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, worthy of praise (Philippians 4:7-9). This Philippians passage says that thinking on those things brings peace! God deserves to be honored, even in our thought life, and he wants us to experience peace.

Joy

I remember a little while into this change of choosing to let the peace of Christ rule in my life. Sitting at dinner, my husband looked up and said, “You just seem so much happier.” Why was that? It was pure joy! As the book of Galatians shares the fruit of the Spirit, joy is listed second (Galatians 5). The Holy Spirit is always at work, and over the months of faithfully being in God’s word and desiring to be like him, I felt joy bubble over.

Joy can be seen in our lives in a lot of practical ways. How did I see joy amidst fighting anxiety and depression? I saw moments throughout my day that I could choose thankfulness. That may sound cliché, but I mean it! Thankfulness for an unexpected and beautiful rainstorm brings joy when compared to being annoyed that it’s raining. Being thankful you get to provide a meal for your family brings joy to your heart when compared to having an attitude of resentment towards your husband for not helping cook. Joy is always right there in front of us, and our Heavenly Father wants us to experience it! Do a quick word study search on “joy.” The Psalms alone talk about joy in a large variety of ways.

Chasing the Wrong Things

I have also struggled with a divided heart over the years. I loved God, but I often found myself spending more thought and energy chasing “more.” More money. More square footage. More comfort. They weren’t bad desires in themselves, but when I looked deeper, I could see the heart issue was covetousness and greed, not fear of the Lord.

I was more focused on the outward appearance of my life than marveling at God’s word and having a right view of God as my provider and comforter. I’d see someone be able to afford to move into a bigger home, and think, “Why can’t we do that? I want more space!” That is humbling to share, but maybe you’ve had similar thoughts during hard times of covetousness and greed. They are not thoughts I want to have. I want to have a pure heart that is thankful, but I so easily waver in my Christian life.

I remember one Sunday night during an 11-week Bible study at my church. Every week I’d sit there, listening during the teaching time, and think, “This is what life is supposed to be about — knowing God, loving Him, and living for Him.” And every week, on a daily basis, I’d go back to the same cycle of striving. Slowly, the Lord began softening my heart. He reminded me that true joy wasn’t found in looking for more, but in putting Him first — in every hour, in every decision. 

Contentment in Christ

And you know what? I ended up having an honest conversation with both the Lord and my husband. Repenting of not living for God on a daily basis. I literally wrote down a list of what my current priorities were at that time, and another list of what I knew my priorities should be for a life that glorifies God. Then day by day, hour by hour, I would stop myself and see if what I was thinking about, spending my time on, or giving money towards was something on my list. If not, it either did not happen or did not happen until I had put time and attention into my God honoring priorities.

Sure, this may sound rigid, but at the beginning, my heart was still so easily swayed. I needed a simple list (that had priorities based on God’s word) to help me honor Him each hour of my day. Choosing to put God first brought contentment. I was satisfied with spending time in God’s word and resting in God’s love.

That contentment took a weight off my shoulders from all the “striving” I was doing. A favorite passage of scripture on the topic of contentment is where Jesus is talking about how he even cares for the birds of the air. “Are you not of more value than they?” (Matthew 6) Oh, how sweet it is to be made in the image of God and able to rest from all the “striving.” God made it possible to experience this contentment by sending his son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross and rise again. 

The Heart Behind this Blog

I don’t have it all together. I still wrestle with anxiety. I still fight distraction and misplaced priorities. But I’ve learned that when we turn back to the holy God in the middle of our mess — when we offer Him our humble hallelujahs, even the messy ones — He can and will change us.

Hourly Hallelujah is my way of remembering, and reminding you, that every moment is an opportunity to glorify God. And just as I started this post, I imagined we were sitting down to coffee together to chat. I’d probably wrap up our time and say, “I know we’ve only begun talking about this topic. Can we get together again soon to talk more?”