What Kind of Shadow does Your Character Cast?

If you follow the news even a little bit you are aware that this week has given us a semester’s worth of lessons on what it looks like to be lacking in CHARACTER.

• The head of the International Monetary Fund, and the man likely to have become the next President of France, was arrested for inappropriate actions towards a hotel worker.

• Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger revealed a child that was born to a domestic worker over a decade ago. His marriage is over.

• For $200 a British woman lied about having injected her 8 year old daughter with Botox. The story made international news.

• 2004 Olympic Gold Medal cyclist, Tyler Hamilton, returned his Gold Medal, having admitted that he had been using performance enhancing drugs.

It is easy to pick out character deficiencies in others – but what about in my own life? Seeing, or not seeing, character deficiencies in my own life is like looking at my own hairdo in the mirror. At best I only partially know what my hairdo looks like. I only see a portion of my hairdo unless I use two or three mirrors – I can’t see it all. The front of my hair can be pristine while the back of my head looks like it was hit by a storm.

‘Character’ is very similar. The temptation is to look as good as we can to people. From the front the character looks good. From the side things don’t look so good. From the back the response is “Wow!” “I didn’t see that coming!”

The US Air Force defines character a, "Qualities of moral excellence which compel a person to do the right things despite pressure or temptations to the contrary."

Character is described as a ‘complex mix of attributes that make-up and determine a person’s moral and ethical actions and reactions.’

President Abraham Lincoln said character is the tree and reputation is the shadow.

What does your character really look like? What kind of shadow does your character cast?

Jesus, develop the righteous character produced by Jesus Christ! (Philippians 1:11)