Topic: Character Matters
“Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.”- Matthew 12:33-35 NIV
When we hear the word ‘character’, we naturally think of people and their behavior, actions etc. Character is who we are not just on the outside but on the inside. Someone said ‘character is who you are when no one is around’.
Character is very important in our relationships and in our dealings generally.
It’s sometimes easy to intentionally and deliberately choose our behavior to fit a particular purpose. For instance, if you know you’re being considered for a promotion or recommendation, you are careful to do the right things and pose the right behavior. You greet politely, answer with a smile, say thank you.
But when the chips are down, when there’s no one to impress, what you do and say is who you really are.
“Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks” Matthew 12:34
This means that what we portray on the outside is a function of who we are on the inside.
Character is not so much how you act when big and important things are at stake but how you behave in the seemingly small and mundane things of life. The way you treat your maid, driver and how you respond to your spouse or children and the like.
Further Reading: Luke 16:10 ERV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for the light of Your word that exposes darkness.
I ask that you expose every part of me that doesn’t portray godliness and a goodly character.
Help me to see what You want me to see in the precious name of Jesus, Amen
