CHARACTER MATTERS | PART 1

GETTING STARTED:

Why do we call ALPHABET, character? Because A is always A. B is B regardless if you read it at the wee hours of the morning. C is C whether you read it in Asia, Africa or America. It doesn’t change that’s why we call them character.  Why do we call NUMBERS, character? 1 is always 1 and 2 is always 2 regardless if you’re using it at night or day. It doesn’t change. Why do we call principles, character? Because principles are laws. They never change. A person can never disagree with a principle. You can ignore it, you can hate it, but you can never disagree with it. Gravity is a principle.  It is a law. You can fast, pray and speak in tongues, but if you jump on a building, you’re going to die. Why? You’re violating a principle.

ONE BIG IDEA!

CHARACTER IS A COMMITMENT TO A SET OF VALUES WITHOUT COMPROMISE.

STUDY:

GENESIS 1:26: “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” (NKJV)

LEARN:

CHARACTER DEFINED:

CHARACTER IS SIMPLY UNCHANGING. How often do you change?  Who are you? Are you the same person all the time? Are you consistent? Are you predictable? Leaders must have character. People won’t follow you if they don’t trust you. Character attracts LOYALTY. No matter how you try to influence people, you can pretend to be nice and please everybody, but one day your true colors will come out.

CHARACTER IS A COMMITMENT TO A SET OF VALUES WITHOUT COMPROMISE.  Values are things that we value.  If you value your marriage vow, you will never commit adultery.  Matthew 6:33 – “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well (NIV).”  We often forget that we’re not only supposed to seek God’s kingdom but also His righteousness. We have to be committed to do what is right.

CHARACTER IS A DEDICATION TO A SET OF STANDARDS WITHOUT WAVERING.  What are the standards you set in your life? Our standards produce our character. Leviticus 11:44a – “I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy (NIV).”  Holiness is God’s standard. Holiness means set apart.  You and I have to be dedicated to God’s standard of holiness without wavering. People don’t understand that character is so SUBTLE. There’s no excuse for breaking standards.

CHARACTER IS SELF-IMPOSED DISCIPLINE FOR THE SAKE OF MORAL CONVICTIONS.  This means a person of character does not need police.  They police themselves. A person of character lock themselves up in the prison of their own convictions and they throw away the key.  Do you have character? Are you for sale? The only thing that can protect your gifts and talents is your character.  When you think about it, character is a constant effort to INTEGRATE your words, deeds, and actions as ONE. A person WITHOUT character will say one thing, do another, and promise something else. Character is willing to sacrifice for principles.  Character means you’re willing to sacrifice friendship to protect your principles. 

Lastly, CHARACTER IS SIMPLY INTEGRITY.  Integrity means YOU ARE ONE with yourself.  The Hebrew concept of holiness is integrity.  The number one confession in the Bible about God is “The Lord our God is ONE.” Deuteronomy 6:4 says, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, The Lord is one (NIV).” Holiness means you are integrated.  You are not more than one person.  You’re not a different person on Sunday in church or on a Monday at work.  When the Bible says, “Be holy!” It’s not just telling you to be set apart.  But it’s telling you to be one.  Set apart for God. Be one with God. The foundation for trust is INTEGRITY.

THE TEST OF CHARACTER:

DON’T BE ATTRACTED TO CHARISMA.  SEEK OUT CHARACTER. Lead with your LIFE. Your life is the WEIGHT of your words.  Titus 1:16 says – “They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good (NIV).” In Christianity, there’s no such thing as a personal life, there’s no such thing as a private life. As a Christian, you’re attaching Jesus’ name to your life.  Thus, people will observe you and criticize you if what you’re saying and what you’re doing are contradicting each other. It’s called character. Proverbs 27:19 – “As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.” (NIV) As a matter of fact, a person of character doesn’t even need to talk. They just show people how to live a life like Christ. Character protects your word.

Character is more important than power. Power will kill a person without character. Therefore, God’s priority is character. Character is necessary before dominion. In my observation, there are TWO THINGS THAT WILL MANIFEST YOUR CHARACTER:

1. Power – when you give a person power, the character shows up.
2. Money – when you give a person lots of money, the real self shows up.

THE ONLY WAY TO TEST CHARACTER IS BY TEMPTATION. Temptation means to test for weakness. The devil will never ever stop from tempting you because he wants to prove to God that you’re weak. Temptation will constantly be in your life to monitor your character. Your character is as strong with the temptation you fell for.  The greatest danger is ignorance of self.  God gave character before power.  We are created by God to have dominion on earth with God’s character. God wants us to reflect His image.  Without character, the power will destroy a person. People often say, “Power corrupts”. But I realized that the power doesn’t corrupt a person.  Power only reveals corruption in a person. 

THE PRINCIPAL TRAIT OF FALLEN MAN IS UNPREDICTABILITY.  You cannot predict a sinner.  You don’t know what they’re going to do next.  People are struggling with unfaithfulness.  They’re not stable.  If we want to develop our character, we have to get rid of some things in our lives that includes our bad habits. Remember this, everything that you built with your whole life could be destroyed in 5 seconds.  Values produce character.  Whatever you value, you believe in.  Your values produce morals.  Morality is a product of your values. If my ethics are in place, ethics produce character. And my character becomes my lifestyle. A person of character doesn’t care if you discover their private life.  If you are afraid that I may find out about your private life, you have no character. Whenever you decide to do something, and you hope no one finds out, you are in danger. Every Christian should have Christ inside. Every Christian should reflect the image of God.

GROW:

APPLICATION QUESTIONS:

1. What is your main takeaway lesson from the message “Character Matters”?
2. Have you ever made compromises at work, with your friends, in the community, or with the culture so that your faith in Christ won’t be costly to your career, reputation, social status, or family relationships? If there were, what were they? Are you still in those compromises?
3. As a follower of Christ, are you the same person in private as you are in public? If not, why?