"Character Counts"

Our lives are to be lived with character. The virtue of a person is seen in the way they approach life and live life. Too many approach their life just by simply possessing religion. Truth needs to be held to and upheld but the truth should lead us into deeper things such as a deep conviction that affects our character. Character is what gives you the ability to stand firm, be trustworthy under difficult circumstances. Character gives one the ability to say 'no' when 'no' needs to be said. Character is a matter of the heart.

We know people that talk about the Lord and His word but they change their character according to who they are around. A friend of mine was sharing with me while he was in the military that all his 'buddies' smoked, so he smoked. They would use profane language so he used profane language at times. He spoke to them about the Lord, trying to look like he cared but his true character came out as he practiced what the others did. I could only imagine what they must have really thought about him while he thought himself as something different.

It is easy to confess with the mouth that Jesus is Lord but our Lord insisted that to call on Him as "Lord, Lord" means nothing and counts for nothing if we do not do the will of the Father (Matt. 7:21). To hear the gospel message and believe the gospel truth is necessary but that faith must translate into our lives to a conviction of upright and honest behavior. Too many are talking about the forgiveness the Lord offers us, His atoning sacrifice on our behalf and the depth of love in which He loves us and it ends there. It is like forgiveness and being forgiven is all there is and the only thing worth talking about. It is like forgiveness is the be all and end all in our lives. Forgiveness is what draws us toward the Lord. Our character is the heart within us like God's heart, going after the things of God, walking the ways of God and putting away of the things that defile us. (It takes a character of heart to discern what we need to involve ourselves in and keep ourselves from.)

God is after our hearts! He is not after someone able to quote some verses and look good religiously. Our heavenly Father wants our hearts to have some firm conviction to mold our lives into the very character of Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:29). Forgiveness is not an end in itself! Transformed hearts and character is God's central agenda. A heart for the Lord will align with Him. There is too much "looking like" religion, "talking like" religion and little standing and living with the Lord. Peter said because of our salvation and security in Christ: "but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves in all your behavior; because it is written, 'YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.'" (I Pet. 1:15-16) Too many are just aligning with the Lord in legal terms but we need to align with the Lord from a heart in a living relationship that pursues His holiness in our lives!