ATTRACTED BY CHARACTER

Psalm 147:10 – He does not delight in the strength of the horse; He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man.

Heraclitus once said “Character is destiny”. There is a difference between morals and characters. It is possible to have good morals but bad character. There a lot of people with good moral upbringing, they will never tell a lie or steal but they lack integrity or you cannot trust them with secrets. There are people in the churches today who will never smoke or commit adultery but when it comes to keeping their promises or vow they need help. There are people who will never rob God in tithes and offerings but will talk behind their pastor’s back or gossip about fellow Christians. Although they have good morals yet they lack good character . Saul for example had good morals. There was no record of Saul stealing someone’s donkey or committing adultery but he lacked good character. Two hundred and thirty thousand men volunteered to go to war with him (1 Samuel 10:5-9 ), after winning the war he kept only two thousand and sent the rest ( two hundred and twenty-eight thousand men) back home with nothing (1 Samuel 13:1-2). This is bad character. Another example is Uzziah in 2 Chronicles 26:1-2. He had good moral upbringing, never cheated anyone, the bible recorded nothing bad about his morals but he lacked character. He had no regard for common men or the prophets. When he became very powerful he began bully prophets in the temple. At the end Saul was demoted and Uzziah became a leper.

One criteria God uses in selecting people for important assignments or blessing is good character. Psalm 147:10 says He does not delight in the strength of the horse; He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man. That is why at times we wonder why God will pick a person like David to be a man after His heart or Rahab to be the great great grandmother of David or Abraham to be His friend or Paul to write more than half of the New Testament. We all know David needed help in the area of morals. In 2 Samuel 11:1-17 we see David committing adultery with Bathsheba and then killing her husband to marry her. Although David struggled with his morals, he had excellent character. He was very humble and full of integrity. Psalm 78:72 says he shepherd Israel with the integrity of his heart. In 2 Samuel 22:2, Vagabonds and world rejects gathered around David and he made them mighty men that shook the world. This is good character. In Joshua 2:1-17 is the story of Rahab the prostitute from Jericho, morally she needed help but she had good character. She never stole from the spies; she kept her promise to protect them. Through her God delivered Jericho into the hands of the Israelites. She later became the great great grandmother of David. Jesus came from the lineage of David! Today many Christians struggle as a result of bad characters. There are many beautiful sisters and well to do brothers who are yet to find their life partners all because of their character. Good character brings favor; it opens door; and takes you the top. To keep the door open or keep you at the top you need good morals. Good character took David to the top but bad morals almost destroyed him. Good character took Rahab to the top but she worked on her morals and became a responsible wife.

KEY WORD: Good moral without good character leads to frustration. Good character without good moral leads to shame. Good character will definitely open doors but good moral is needed to keep the doors open.