CHALLENGES OF THE 21ST CENTURY continued
Romans 5:3-5 “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”
In these next few chapters I would like to concentrate upon one of the important things that we will be faced with in the 21st century and that is: men/women of character. We are born with a personality, but not character. Character is something that is developed on how we respond to life situations that come our way daily. I would like to mention a few things that different people over the years have said about the importance of character.
“THE WORLD NEEDS MEN AND WOMEN…who can’t be bought; who keep their promises; who value character over riches; with an opinion and a will; who value inner greatness over visible career; who readily take steps of faith; who retain their identity in a crowd; who do not compromise themselves with falsehood; whose personal ambitions are not limited to personal gain; who do not say, ‘We do it because the others do it;’ who remain loyal to their friends through success and failure; who believe that tricks, calculation and cunning are not the only keys to success who are not afraid of standing up for the truth, even if it is unpopular; who can decisively say ‘no’ in the face of a world saying ‘yes.’” (Source: Dr. Elijah Morgan &Peter Riederer (http://www.yell.ch) in “Schweizer Arbeitgeber,” 14/2002) ”Character is higher than intellect. A great soul will be strong to live as well as think.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson
”Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.” –Abraham Lincoln
”Integrity is its own reward.” –Laura Schlessinger
”Character is doing what’s right when nobody’s looking.” –J.C. Watts
”It is better to deserve honors and not have them than to have them and not deserve them.” –Mark Twain
“Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy.’” –General H. Norman Schwartzkopf
”Outside show is a poor substitute for inner worth.” –Aesop
”You must look into people, as well as at them.” –Lord Chesterfield
“Characters do not change. Opinions alter, but characters are only developed.” –Benjamin Disraeli
”Of all the properties which belong to honorable men, not one is so highly prized as that of character.” –Henry Clay
”Man’s character is his fate.” –Heraclitus
Oswald Chambers said: “No man is born with character; we make our own character. When a man is born from above a new disposition is given to him, but not a new character; neither naturally nor supernaturally are we born with character. Character is what a man makes out of his disposition as it comes in contact with external things. A man’s character cannot be summed up by what he does in spots, but only by what he is in the main trend of his existence. When we describe a man we fix on the exceptional things, but it is the steady trend of a man’s life that tells. Character is that which steadily prevails, not something that occasionally manifests itself.”
We see what people down through the ages have to say about character. The person that God uses is a man/woman of character. With all of our getting; get character.