The Importance of Character
Character is said to be “your moral self,” “moral structure”, or “the imprint on the soul”. Some say it is the basic element of all human beings and that it helps one to build specific qualities in life. I have concluded that character is the quality that defines a person. It is the basic element of all human beings. We seek to know other’s character, we watch their actions and the words they say and how they say it. Character enables the habit of will, which helps to shape oneself; it affects every area of our lives; decisions, our words, our actions, our attitudes, our goals, and our relationships. The excellence of a man is his character.
Character determines how you will respond in any given situation, whether in success or failure. To be an impactful leader one must have God within. You cannot claim God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit but enforce slavery, prejudice, lies, bribe officials, hypocrisy or force injustice on the powerless. Everyone’s triumphs and success are custom for their calling, to have good character and be a child of the most high you must do good and seek God. True leaders must also accept failure and will make bad decisions at some point in their lives. Circumstances mold our character.
It is important to have good character in leadership to be effective. To produce good character it must be brought under discipline and organized into the structure of moral beings. Honesty, loyalty, respectfulness, responsibility, humility, compassion, fairness and things of that nature are traits of good character. A person of good character is a rare treasure in this world. Good character is developed over time and through the virtues of hard work and commitment. We cannot develop our character without having to work hard and to suffer through times of conflict and challenge. We all go through challenges every day whether sickness, death of a loved one, stress, frustration, lack of finances, etc., but our character is defined by how we respond to certain challenges. Challenges create champions.
You have to become consistent in your traits for it to become your character. We must be more concerned about our character than our reputation. Abraham Lincoln stated: “Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow.” Reputation and character are mirror images of each other, one being real and one being an illusion. This means that we truly are more powerful than people think we are. You have to continually audit your character to embody self mastery and self control. It is shaped from birth and influenced during growth. It is largely developed from suffering the trials and errors of life. Good Character is vital to success.
Everyone has challenges and they cannot be avoided. Your challenge could be physical, emotional, relational or spiritual. It is in darkness that character is developed. God is calling us to protect and maintain our higher standards, our divine purpose. You have to be willing to change for the better because God would not give you anything before it’s time or before you are ready. You must be more interested in developing your own character, before you are going to see God bring change in your life for the future. You have to submit to the will of God.
You have to believe in yourself like God believes in you. This is how you face life, by surrendering to God or people will kill your spirit. We choose what and who exists in our lives, it is important to make sure these things serve the purpose of love. God is love.
Above all you must be more concerned about your own character than in the lack of character of others. It is not your job to judge others no matter the circumstances. We all live in glass houses. It is our duty to lend a hand and help others up, help other see clearly on their journey through life. The only true goal of life is to become all that God has created you to be – 2 Corinthians 3:18. God wants us to be like him. God is love. God is constant. God is merciful. God is humble. God is trustworthy. God is righteous. God is holy. And God is spirit.
For others to follow and for you to lead we must first focus on our characters.
“Pour it all out here on Earth, die empty,” said Dr. Myles Munroe.
– Jessica Ford
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