This month I want to share something that has been on my mind in terms of my ministry, coaching and just regular interactions with the world around me- character. There are lots of reasons for it, which really don’t matter anymore, but what I’m seeing is increasingly a lack of character in people who have a huge amount of influence in our society. I’d also say as I look at some of the problems we face right now the biggest thing we need is people of character.
What do I mean?
Character is defined as the attributes and features that make up a person. That’s good, but I like to take it one step further: character is ‘moral excellence and firmness. strength of moral fiber.’ Pastor and author A.W. Tozer described character as “the excellence of moral beings.”
As the excellence of gold is its purity and the excellence of art is its beauty, so the excellence of people is in their character. Persons of character are noted for their honesty, ethics, and charity. Descriptions such as “man of principle” and “woman of integrity” are assertions of character. A lack of character is moral deficiency, and persons lacking character tend to behave dishonestly, unethically, and uncharitably. It’s pretty straightforward but hard to attain.
We see in society today a lack of character. While a lot has been written on it, I would like to share a few thoughts on how we can grow in character as followers of Jesus, athletes and coaches. If we do, we might just change the world around us for the better!
Start with what you read
Let’s say you get an e-mail from one of your close friends you haven’t heard from in a while. What do you do? You read it, of course. In the Bible there are several of the pastoral letters in the New Testament, including James, which have great practical application on how to live. When was the last time you read them?
We develop character by understanding how God sees it and then applying this to our lives. Make sense? Good! But don’t take out your dusty Bible and read it from cover-to-cover tonight. No guilt trip here. Instead, find and following a reading plan and also connect with the pastoral letters. In addition, read other books, like devotionals, studies or commentaries that repeatedly talk about and look at the Bible; then you should read chapters of the Bible dealing with the issue in your devotional.
A good standard of Bible reading time is ten to twenty minutes a day. You can do more if you want, obviously. You get out what you put in. Do this and you can’t help but grow in character!
Character is built on consistent experiences
Now that we are well into the topic of character a natural question might be: how do we gauge character? A person’s character is the sum of his or her disposition, thoughts, intentions, desires, and actions. It’s good to remember that character is gauged by general tendencies, not on the basis of a few isolated actions. We must look at the whole life. For example, King David was a man of good character although he sinned on occasion (and had a few BIG ones). And although King Ahab may have acted nobly once (hint: see 1 Kings 22:35), he was still a man of overall bad character. Several people in the Bible are described as having noble character: Ruth, Nehemiah, and Job, for instance. These people’s lives were distinguished by persistent moral virtue. They stuck with it. That means they consistently sought to learn from God and follow him no matter the circumstance. Make sense? Great. Let’s move on.
You grow in Godly character through experience in the day-in and day-out, in the grind of life. When you allow this to occur an interesting thing happens: you can then experience the power of God in your life and know the real happiness which is more than just a religious concept. There is joy in living the fullness of character that comes through having the Holy Spirit in your life. As you grow in character you can build up your faith by praying as you experience the power of the Holy Spirit. This takes time though, and it takes consistent effort. When you do, you’ll experience the joy, power and transformation for yourself and the world around you of Godly character.
Character is influenced and developed by our choices
Our experiences though are often impacted by the choices we make. As we seek to grow in Godly character and live it out, I suspect most would realize that the choices we make have a huge impact on our character. You’ve hopefully also realized that this is not something that happens just in church but rather in the ‘lab’ of life. We need to CHOOSE each day how we’ll live in the reality of our world and the choices it gives. Daniel “resolved not to defile himself” while living in captivity in Babylon and that Godly choice was an important step in formulating an unquestionable integrity in his life. Character, in turn, influences our choices. Proverbs 3 tells us: “The integrity of the upright guides them”. Character will help us weather the storms of life and keep us from sin.
You can’t do this in a vacuum and you cannot find success alone. You need others in your life; you need fellowship. That word means a lot more than casseroles and roaster chicken at church get-togethers. It means conversation. It means praying together. It means talking about what God is doing in your life. It means building up others who feel down.
Okay, that makes sense, but it also means no gossiping! As we read in James 3, we need to watch what we say. Are the things we’re saying building others up or tearing them down?
So, it takes making wise choices and that means you need other Christians in your life to help you out. You need other Christians to give you encouragement and to listen to you. You need advice, too. And you need to give it when you can. Not sure where to look? Hint, hint: the best place to start looking for some Christian friends, is, of course, church. Choose them wisely though, only the ones that look and act like they really are dedicated and really are following Jesus. Then you can both grow in character!
God desires to develop the character already in us
It’s God’s purpose to develop the character within that He’s already planted in us. We read in Proverbs: “The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the LORD tests the heart”. Godly character is the result of the Holy Spirit’s work of sanctification in every believer. Character, then, in the believer is a consistent manifestation of Jesus in his life. It’s the purity of heart that God gives becoming purity in action. God sometimes uses trials to strengthen character. It’s a ‘faith that works’ meaning it does something and is effective. The Bible tells us: “we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope”.. God is pleased when His children grow in character. We read in the Old Testament “you test the heart and are pleased with integrity”. God loves when we grow in character!
While its there to be developed and God helps us through the Holy Spirit, we still need to work to develop it.
Learn
If we’re going to develop and work on this character, guess what? We need to learn. Once you become more devoted to Jesus, things should become different. I still remember that vividly in my own life. Christian musician Steven Curtis Chapman says, “What about the difference? What about the change? What about forgiveness? What about a life that’s showing I’m undergoing a change?”
In order to see that change take root we need to learn. We learn about God, about his character, his desires for us and what Godly character looks like. We can do that through doing a Bible study, being part of a small group or reading Christian literature.
We develop Christian character by controlling our thoughts, practicing Christian virtues, guarding our hearts and keeping good company. People of character will set a good example for others to follow, and their godly reputation will be evident to all.
We need to live
What’s the bottom line here, and what do I mean by ‘we need to live’? We all live life in context and some form of community. So, to be a person of character we need to live. We need to stop thinking about it and just do it. But with that in mind, be different in the way that you live life. Be mature and conduct yourself maturely. This doesn’t mean that you have to look totally different but it does mean that you should be mindful of how you dress and thoughtful in your interactions with social media. As well, listen to good music with a positive message (based on your taste of course!) and avoid any inappropriate videos. Use your best judgment.
Remember those WWJD bracelets that were popular a few years ago? May that be a reminder: what would Jesus do? It’s hard though to do what Jesus did if we don’t BE what Jesus was. And that was a person of character. Strive to live the best character you can and watch your life change and the life of those around you.
The only way to truly live in a Christ-honoring fashion, though, is to know Jesus. You will never know him completely on earth, but throughout life, by praying, reading your Bible, getting involved with study, being a disciple, being in community in a small group, you can know him more. Act the way Jesus did, and that’s a life worth living. Once you know Jesus more than you did at first then you can understand how to live. Like to learn more about this? Message me and lets talk.
