We’ve spent a lot of time considering our thoughts and feelings, how they are rooted in the condition of our hearts. Today’s topic is that of character. The books definition of character is “the internal structure of self that is revealed by our long-term patterns of behavior.”
An old definition is “Who you are when no one is looking.”
A definition from the memory banks is “The best way to judge someone’s character is by how they treat someone who can do absolutely nothing for them in return.”
It reminds me of 2 Peter 1:5-8…
“5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
I see the underlined words as an orderly structure to growth in our formation. An entry into a life of faith should stimulate some good things that are new for us. Add to those new things should lead to some self-control to repeat the new thing we have learned. Things like love your enemies, pray for those who hurt you. Then when you get some self-control to do the right things, do them over and over again in perseverance. It’s in this perseverance of doing the new things God asks of us that character, His character begins to be formed in us.
Our true character is what we do during our reactions in life. It’s easy to, as an act of the will, to try and make our actions reflect Christ. I look at my upcoming day and see moments where I need to gather myself, check my heart and walk into situations where I know I am going to love my enemy. I want God to be God of my actions. I might succeed or fail to do what God wants from me in those moments.
But life isn’t always a clear road of intention, sometimes I come face to face with someone who I know is trying to undo me out in the public square and they say something intended to harm my soul. It’s in these reactive moments when I hope and pray that God could lead me in the reaction I would give in that moment. Can I love when being unloved, can I serve when someone wants to steal, can I turn the other cheek when someone is so willing to slap mine? It’s in these moments when our character is revealed and I pray the end of the above verse, that I will be effective and productive in my knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Character is what I feel or do without thinking and I pray that a renovation of my heart would allow me to live like Jesus, who when being falsely accused, drug off to an illegal trial and about to die a grizzly death in less than 24 hours would be able to take the time to pick up an ear laying on the ground and take a moment to heal someone whose goal in the moment was to kill Him. Thinking of others before you think of yourself… remarkable!
Truth, Grace, and Time 