It is necessary at times to give extra attention to components of our lives. Sometimes it may be your weight. Sometimes it may be a health issue. Sometimes it may be an emotional issue. However, one aspect of our lives should receive life time attention. That is our character.
What kind of story is your character communicating? Each of our lives are telling a story. Some stories are good. Some stories are bad. Some stories have a happy ending. Some stories have a sad ending. We have a choice in how that story turns out. Your character will affect the telling of your story. We find a challenging truth on this subject in I Tim. 4:12. Paul tells Timothy to “Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” Your life story will be based on your character. Paul instructs Timothy to guard his character.
I want to ask three questions as we examine this text. Why be concerned about your character? What will a Godly character accomplish? What are the traits that make up a Godly character?
I. The first question is: Why be concerned with your character?
A. Some people might say “character is not important.” “Does it really matter?” If you study the Bible you come to understand that character is tremendously important. It matters to God. Consider these scriptures.
“be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, ” Phil. 2:15 RSV
“For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience that we have behaved in the world, and still more toward you, with holiness and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God”. II Cor. 1:12 RSV
“BLESSED ARE those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord! ” Ps. 119:1 RSV
B. Your character defines your life. To illustrate the importance of character I am going to call out some names. I want you to identify the first thing you remember about these people. By calling these names I am not judging these people and the final chapter of their lives. Each of them may have ended or will end life as a saint. However, the shortcomings of their character left a huge scar on their lives. All of us have scars on our lives. These scars come from poor decisons and sinful mistakes. I am so glad that God helps us to start over and He forgives us for our failures. These individuals, like us, need or needed to find a new beginning. They illustrate how character defines a life.
Monica Lewinsky-
Richard Nixon-
Pete Rose-
Jimmy Swaggart-
Vanessa Williams-
Tonya Harding-
II. What will a Godly character accomplish?
A. Your character gives strength to your words. In our text Paul instructs Timothy to preach and teach the word. (see vs. 11). If you are trying to share your faith but your actions invalidate your words then you have wasted your words. Your actions legitimize your words. We need people who will legitimize the gospel. I once heard someone say “What you are speaks so loudly I cannot hear what you say.”
B.. Your character can make up for inadequacies in other areas of your life. That is the point in our text. Paul tells young Timothy to be an example for other believers, in spite of his youth. Character will qualify you when age, training and other qualities may be missing from your life. God is not as concerned with your ability and your age as he is your character.
C. Your character gives others an example to follow (vs. 12)Paul instructed Timothy to be an example.
Illustrate: A study once disclosed that if both Mom and Dad attend church regularly, 72% of their children remain faithful. If only Dad, 55% remain faithful. If only Mom, 15%. If neither attended regularly, only 6% remain faithful. The statistics speak for themselves--the example of parents and adults is more important than all the efforts of the church.
(SOURCE: Warren Mueller in Homemade, May, 1990.)
D. Your character points others to God (see vs. 15-16.)
Illustration: Ronald Reagan’s attitude after the 1982 attempt on his life made an impression on his daughter, Patti Davis:
“The following day my father said he knew his physical healing was directly dependent on his ability to forgive John Hinckley. By showing me that forgiveness is the key to everything, including physical health and healing, he gave me an example of Christ-like thinking.”
SOURCE: Leadership Magazine. Christianity Today, Inc. To Illustrate: Forgiveness: Angels Don’t Die, Leadership Spring 1997, pg. 70.
(Contributed to Sermon Central by Kenneth Squires)
III. What are the traits that make up a Godly character? In verse 12 of our text Paul identifies several traits that should be attended in building a Godly character.
A. We should be an example in speech. In Ephesians 4 Paul discusses some of the concerns of proper speech.
4:25 Lying
4:29 Unwholesome speech
4:30 Edifying speech
4:31 Bitter speech
B. We should be an example in our conduct.
Illustration: Several years ago at a passion play an incident took place during Jesus carrying the cross. A man in the audience was heckling the character playing Jesus, throwing out jeers, taunts and dares. Finally the character could no longer tolerate the heckler, he dropped the cross and went over and punched the man. The director was aghast and after the play pulled the actor aside and told him in no uncertain terms was he never to do that again. The next night the same heckler was back and again the same thing occured. Jesus had to be restrained. The director called the actor in and gave him an ultimatum of either quitting or keeping his composure. The young actor assured the director he would keep himself under control. The third night, the heckler was present again and taunted even stronger than the two previous nights. The man playing Jesus rose to his full stature, gritted his teeth and told the heckler, "I’ll see you right after the resurrection." Is that appropriate conduct?
(Contributed to Sermon Central by Mark Sutherlin)
C. We should be an example in Love.
Illustration: Love from a Kid’s Point of View, Citation: "What Is Love—From a Kid’s Point of View," LightSinger, (accessed 3-14-02)]
What is love, from a kid’s point of view?
"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn’t bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That’s love."
"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You know that your name is safe in their mouth."
"Love is when someone hurts you, and you get so mad, but you don’t yell at them because you know it would hurt their feelings."
"Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is okay."
"Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen."
"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well."
"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford."
"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day."
"You really shouldn’t say ’I love you’ unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget."
(Contributed to Sermon Central by A. Todd Coget)
D. We should be an example in faith. Do other people know that Jesus Christ is in first place in your life? Do they know that serving Jesus Christ through His church is a priority in your life? Do they know that you live your life to honor Jesus Christ?
E. We should be an example in purity. The word for purity refers primarily to sexual purity.
Illustration: NBA star A.C. Green set a marvelous example in this area. Once one of the NBA’s most eligible bachelors, A.C. Green is single no longer. He was married in Los Angeles on Saturday, April 20, 2002 to Veronique Green.
"I have waited awhile for marriage to take place, but my beautiful wife has been well worth the wait," said A.C.
"A.C. is the man I have waited for my whole life," said Veronique. "To know that he has also been faithful in waiting for me is the best wedding present I could ever imagine."
When he was asked after his wedding about his life long vow of purity until marriage. He said, "IT WAS WORTH THE WAIT"
(Contributed to Sermon Central by Paul Wallace)
A sermon such as this can bring up guilt issues for those who have failed in areas of character. We need to be reminded that every one of us have failed in various aspects of character maintenance. Today’s sermon should prompt us to make one of two decisions. One decision is to ask forgiveness from Jesus for our sins. No matter how you might have failed in the past, today is a new day. The second decision is to determine to be faithful in the future. As a follower of Jesus Christ, we should determine to live a life of character to the best of our ability.
