It is of essence that believers develop good character to attract people to themselves. Without good character, it may be difficult for people to value or appreciate what one believes in. Character is a minefield composed of sensibilities, dispositions and taste according to Bourdieu. Josephson sees character as values evident in trust, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship. Simply, character is what an individual exhibits when circumstances seem to be “crushing” with no way of escape.
Essentially, good character builds the trust required to succeed in any endeavor, peak performance, motivation for others, creates avenue for empathy. Good character requires constant working to remove the areas in our lives that need to be put-off by not conforming to the ways of the world by constantly renewing our minds in doing the will of God according Romans 12:2 in order to add new attributes such as the fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).
It takes a lot of effort by the believer and energy with the help of God through suffering and endurance to build a good character. Romans 5:3-5 (ESV) says that “we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us”. In addition, 2 Peter 1:5-7 (ESV) “make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.”
We must be careful and ‘choosy’ with our friends to ensure this good character experiences the test of time (lasts long). 1 Corinthians 15:33 (ESV) says that “Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”
With good character, we can win others to Christ, sustain good relationships with friends and families, build a great godly home, attract suitors, truthful (avoiding deceit), being a light to others in the dark and affecting our generation. Let’s build good character to make a change in our closest environment
In conclusion, Romans 5:4 (ESV) reveals that endurance produces character, and character produces hope. Let always look for how to be better people in every situation we find ourselves.