God is in the character building business.
We have the promise in Phil. 1:6 when the apostle Paul tells the church that “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” This promise reveals while we are involved in the process, it is God, through the Holy Spirit, who is the prompter or catalyst, working through us in character development.
Our part is revealed in II Peter 1:5-7. “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness, and to goodness, knowledge, and to knowledge, self-control, and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.”
We are drawn to people who demonstrate good character. Who wants to be a friend to someone who has no selfcontrol or sense of responsibility? One of the obvious social concerns of today is the lack of respect for those in authority.
In his retirement, Harry Truman was once asked if he had any suggestions for dealing with juvenile delinquency of the day. He replied, “Choose their grandparents.” While we can’t do this, the point he was making was that we desperately need good role models in our raising. I remember when I observed a student with good manners and a respectful attitude it made me want to meet his parents.
My dad only finished the 7th grade and was far from a polished gentleman. But his sense of honesty and a strong work ethic was a model for me. When he moved into Weatherford he had to learn to maneuver streets and signs.
Once he ran through a stop sign. He knew he had broken the law and not knowing what to do he went to the police department and turned himself in. I would like to have seen the look on the face of the officers when he explained what he had done. But his sense of integrity was on display.
Our racial division of today has been carried over from past generations who with jokes, slang words, black minstrels and actions have produced a false picture of second class citizenship, racial inferiority, and low intelligence.
Actually, they helped win the Civil war, served valiantly in World War 2, and produced great men and women, while overcoming great obstacles. One of the great failures of our educational system is our failure to teach Black History.
Oswald Chambers said, “We imagine we would be all right if a big crisis arose; but the crisis will only reveal the stuff we are made of, it will not put anything into us. Crisis always reveals character.”An excerpt from the Character Training Institute reads: “Character is what we do, even when we think no one will ever know. Good character dictates right attitudes, words, and actions in every situation.”
So we need to choose to develop character traits, with God’s help, we can pass on to our children and those who observe our actions. God uses hardship and trials to teach us to depend on Him.
We learn by mistakes we make and those we observe in others. We learn patience and perseverance through difficulties we face. We pray for wisdom and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We read prayers like that of Psalm 25: 4- 5: “Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your path; guide me in your truth and teach me; for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.”
To comment jhm82@outlook.com.