"More than that, we know that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope." Romans 5:4-5
I've been doing a bit of reading on the topic of character lately. It's also been a topic which I have been talking about with others in my life. And so, for a little while, I'm going to focus on a few things involving character on this blog. So please stick with me, and feel free to offer feedback, share thoughts, and even correct me if/when I may step out of line.
How do you recognize character in a person? Well, perhaps the first step to that is to discover what we mean by character. In my mind, that's not the easiest thing to do. We have characters in a play, characters in movies, we call people who act out or have distinctive personalities "characters". So what do we really mean by this word?
Part of my reflections on this word character involve coming up with what I mean when I use it. So for the purposes of clarity in future blog posts, this is what I will mean when I use the word. Character is the distinctiveness and uniqueness of an individual which is observed over time. Okay, let me explain that a little bit.
Every one of us has certain things that we will tend to do with a degree of regularity. These come to define who we are as a person. This is not to say that a particular characteristic is good or bad, it is to say that this comes to define who we are as a person. For example, I might know a person who regularly goes out of his way to help others. That would be part of that person's character. I might know another person who lies every time he gets caught doing something. Again, that's part of that person's character. While the action which defines the person may be good or bad, right or wrong, the idea of character is neutral in itself. In other words, it shows what makes that person distinctive and unique, regardless of whether the action is right or wrong.
Now, I understand that we tend to use the word character in a more positive sense. When someone stands up to others for what is right, we say that person has character. When someone endures consequences for doing the right thing, we say that person has character. While I will not disagree with these kind of statements, I would also argue that the person who regularly lies in certain situations is also demonstrating character. That person is living up to the thing that makes him distinctive and unique.
For my last point today, I will say that character can be either good or bad. The person who has a tendency to tell the truth, regardless of the consequences for himself, demonstrates good character. The person who has a tendency to tell lies, regardless of the consequences, demonstrates bad character. Therefore, as we work to discover what character is, and how we demonstrate it in life, we'll very likely find that we have both good points and bad points to our character. But more on that tomorrow!
I've been doing a bit of reading on the topic of character lately. It's also been a topic which I have been talking about with others in my life. And so, for a little while, I'm going to focus on a few things involving character on this blog. So please stick with me, and feel free to offer feedback, share thoughts, and even correct me if/when I may step out of line.
How do you recognize character in a person? Well, perhaps the first step to that is to discover what we mean by character. In my mind, that's not the easiest thing to do. We have characters in a play, characters in movies, we call people who act out or have distinctive personalities "characters". So what do we really mean by this word?
Part of my reflections on this word character involve coming up with what I mean when I use it. So for the purposes of clarity in future blog posts, this is what I will mean when I use the word. Character is the distinctiveness and uniqueness of an individual which is observed over time. Okay, let me explain that a little bit.
Every one of us has certain things that we will tend to do with a degree of regularity. These come to define who we are as a person. This is not to say that a particular characteristic is good or bad, it is to say that this comes to define who we are as a person. For example, I might know a person who regularly goes out of his way to help others. That would be part of that person's character. I might know another person who lies every time he gets caught doing something. Again, that's part of that person's character. While the action which defines the person may be good or bad, right or wrong, the idea of character is neutral in itself. In other words, it shows what makes that person distinctive and unique, regardless of whether the action is right or wrong.
Now, I understand that we tend to use the word character in a more positive sense. When someone stands up to others for what is right, we say that person has character. When someone endures consequences for doing the right thing, we say that person has character. While I will not disagree with these kind of statements, I would also argue that the person who regularly lies in certain situations is also demonstrating character. That person is living up to the thing that makes him distinctive and unique.
For my last point today, I will say that character can be either good or bad. The person who has a tendency to tell the truth, regardless of the consequences for himself, demonstrates good character. The person who has a tendency to tell lies, regardless of the consequences, demonstrates bad character. Therefore, as we work to discover what character is, and how we demonstrate it in life, we'll very likely find that we have both good points and bad points to our character. But more on that tomorrow!
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