“O Lord . . who may dwell on your holy hill? He who walks with integrity.” Psalm 15:1-2 NAS
“Even when you think no one is watching; live as though someone is.”
My thoughts today are about “the real you.”
Watch out for people with impressive talents who lack fundamental character. They will mislead you even if they didn’t intend to do so. Their lack of character to support their talents makes them vulnerable to act out of expediency rather than conviction and conscience when there is pressure to do so.
The Bible advises you to follow character, not charisma. One is internal, the other external. The first is eternal, the latter temporary. Talent can be acquired and developed a lot quicker than character can be established. Don’t be foolishly impressed with the flash. The crowd is impressed with charisma; God values character. Talent alone will take you only so far, but character lasts for a lifetime and prepares you for eternity.
The Bible directs you to admire and follow Godly people, “whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct.” Hebrews 13:7. That matter of the outcome of a person’s conduct is very important in making friendships and personal choices. If you project your behavior, or someone else’s, to its eventual and inevitable outcome and that’s not where you would wish to be, it’s best to not even start on that journey.
John Wooden, the legendary basketball coach of UCLA with four undefeated seasons of 30-0 and 19 conference championships, wrote in his autobiography of a lifetime with collegiate athletes, “You should care more about your character than your reputation. Character is what you really are. Your reputation is only what people think about you.” Be more concerned about who you really are than worried about what people think you are. Be yourself – as God made you to be, like Him.
The greater the size of your talent, the more you must dedicate time to developing your character. Character, integrity, honesty, loyalty . . enduring qualities of the inner man and more lastingly valuable than any flash of talent and personality. You can be satisfied to wow the crowd with stuff that is superficial, or you can prize and pursue what will welcome you into God’s company and honor. See Psalm 15:1-5 NLT. Character is what happens when you choose to be the person that God created and called you to be – that’s who you are meant to be, the real you. Anything less is a caricature of the image and likeness of God. See Genesis 1:26-27.
The ancient Greeks used the word “character” to describe the indelible mark left by a chisel after the powerful strike of the hammer. That’s what character is, the indelible mark in a man or woman who is true to the core. I think real character is the indelible imprint of the Word of God upon a person’s life – in your thoughts, words, values, choices, convictions, relationships, lifestyle, and in literally everything that you are and do. That doesn’t just happen along the way.
My prayer for you today is: even when no one is watching; live as though someone is.