The most basic element in character building is complete conversion, turn away from oneself and turn to God, and have a personal relationship with Him through faith in Jesus Christ.
John Wesley, an eminent English theologian and evangelist, described his conversion as a “heart-warming experience”: “I felt that I really trusted Christ — and only Christ for salvation. I gained the assurance that He bore my sins — even mine — and saved me from the law of sin and death. " Jesus came into the life of John Wesley and through Him the Comforter, the Helper gained access to his heart, mind and soul. John Wesley was never the same again, because a new "life principle" was embedded in him.
In Scripture, this is called being born again, being born into the kingdom of God. This is the moment when the seed of the kingdom is sown deeply into our souls. “You were reborn,” wrote Peter, “not from the seed of perishable, but from the word of God, which lives and will live forever” (1 Peter 1:23) (Sovrem. Transl.).
All our efforts to build character are in vain if the seed of the kingdom is not first sown in us.
