CHARACTER ASSASSINATION
Romans 5:1-4
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.
In simple terms – what is being said here is that once we are believers we make peace with our God and have access to His grace in our lives but in addition life is a journey filled with twists and turns and it is through these twists and turns that who we are in Christ is developed, grown and realised
• How a person deals with the circumstances of their life speaks of their character
• Crisis doesn’t necessarily make character, but it does reveal it
• Adversity in our lives is a cross road where a person chooses one path – Character or Compromise
As Christians we are purposed to become more like Jesus – that is the growth journey that we are all on
Jesus is the ultimate example of character and every time we choose character development we grow more and more into the image of Christ
• So what is Character?
• What does it mean?
• Why is it so important?
Character is defined: The pattern of behaviour or personality found in an individual or group, moral constitution
When we label someone as a character – it is a reflection of their behaviour
4 Things We Must Know About Character
1. Character Is More Than Talk
Anyone can say they have integrity but action is the true indicator (I can keep saying I am the strongest man on the earth and maybe some would believe that but until I can back up my claim with action I am not the strongest man on the earth)
Your character determines who you are
2. Talent Is A Gift – But Character Is A Choice
There are a lot of things in our life that we have no control over – we don’t get to pick our parents, our upbringing, our talents or our IQ – but we do choose our character
Quote: Your gift will make a way for you but it is your character that will keep you
3. Character Brings Lasting Success With People
People do not trust those who have flawed characters
Good character will open up doors for lasting relationships with those around you
4. People Can Not Rise Above The Limitations Of Their Character
Have you ever seen highly talented people fall apart when they reach a certain level of success? (see this in sport)
Success without a good foundation of character is bound for failure
How often you hear of people who win x-lotto and years later their worse off than when they first began – they did not have the foundation or character to handle what was happening to them
Some thoughts on Character:
• DL Moody said, ‘Character is what you are in the dark’
• Chuck Swindoll said, ‘Reputation is what people think of you. Character is what you are regardless of what people think of you.’
• DL Moody – ‘If I take care of my character, my reputation will take care of itself’
• ‘Reputation is for a time; character is for eternity’
• ‘It is better to be short of cash than to be short of character’
• ‘Don’t be a character, have it’
Throughout the Bible the word character is seldom used and the word integrity is not used – although these words are not used Jesus did call for purity of heart (Matt 5:8), singleness of purpose (Matt 6:22, and purity of motive (Matt 6:1-6)
Although the word character is not used that much – the traits and behaviours that form our character are mentioned all over
• Galatians 5 – Fruits of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control
• Matthew 5 – Pure in heart
• 2 Corinthians 1:12 – Sincere
• Isaiah 60:21 – Righteous
• Psalms 34:2 – Humble
• Revelation 17:14 – Faithful
Why is Character so important? Our Character is all we have – it is our witness – it is the shopfront window of our lives – its what people see – its what impacts and influences others – its what makes us different to the world – it is our foundation and it is our future!
CHARACTER ASSASINATION
Lets look at this for a minute – what is it?
Character Assassination is the bringing down of character
We have all heard of the term and maybe many of us have used in when we hear of someone’s character or integrity being attacked - our world is obsessed with bringing down peoples character as it fulfils a need to bring others to our level and keep us all equal – this started thousands of years ago when Jesus was arrested and then led to His death – the crowds mocked him and jeered at him – they wanted to bring Jesus down to their level
Character Assassination – I wonder if we ever stop to think of some of the things we say and believe? An assassin is one who carries out a secret plot to bring someone down
When I think about this in the reference to my character I actually believe that no outsider can assassinate my character – not even the devil
People can attack my character – the devil can throw mud at my character but there is no weapon that is formed against me that can prosper therefore no outside influence can assassinate my character – no weapon formed – greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world
The only person who can assassinate my character is myself - Character assassination is not about what another can do but what we do
But we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.
• Life’s challenges can not take away your character – if we choose they only build character
Our character is built – God is building who we are – not what we do – too often we measure success through works and accomplishments when the real success is a life growing and developing in character through the journey of life
Growing, building and developing in character
The greatest example of having your character attacked but not allowing it to assassinate character has to be:
• Jesus – the rulers of the day – the crowds – they jeered and attacked Jesus character – (read parts of Matthew 27) - but what I love here is that Jesus did not use His words to quieten the crowd but He used His life to silence the crowd – on that third day – where was the crowd now?
A powerful life will always have its character attacked but let the power of your life silence the crowd!
The devils plan for each of us is to wear us down to appoint where we can not take it any more and we allow our character to be assassinated- notice I said that it is something that we allow – a decision – a choice
Who knows that decision making is clouded and distorted when we are worn down? Well that is good enough reason not to make a choice – allowing something to happen in our lives is a choice so when we feel worn down and like our character and who we are is taking a beating just hang on tight knowing that it is tribulation that produces perseverance and it is perseverance that develops our character
HANG ON!!! Don’t allow your character to be assassinated – don’t allow who you are and who God is growing you to be to be assassinated
This is the one and only plan that the devil has for our lives – to seek, kill and destroy! HANG ON
3 things that will assassinate our character:
1. Reacting instead of responding – our focus is not what happens to us in life but how we respond to what happens to us – how we deal with it
We will either react or we will respond – reacting is a negative approach – a back foot approach – a defensive approach – a survival approach. Responding is a positive approach – a front foot approach – a offensive approach – a growing approach.
2. Resisting instead of embracing – resisting the trials of life and trying to ignore them – embrace them as they are going to develop powerful Godly character in you
3. Reflecting on others rather than ourselves - comparing – well what about them – look at their character – look at their behaviour
Can I teach you a valuable principle I have learnt about growing in character?
Psalm 139:23-24
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Every time I hit a roadblock in life or hit a speed hump I get alone with God and pray this prayer. In every situation and circumstance there is an opportunity to grown and develop in our character
CONCLUSION
Jude verse 24-25
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savoir, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.
Psalm 84
When we walk uprightly our character is strengthened and solidified and no good thing will be withheld from our lives – this is when a life is powerful
A good test of a powerful life is to look and see if it is under attack!!
When your character is sound and your life is under attack then you must be doing something right!
If we are under attack and our character is flawed then this is when we need to persevere and allow our character to be built
