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.
