Building or Eroding Character

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap (Galatians 6:7).

Like a great cathedral, character is built a day at a time, a stone at a time, with patience and deliberation, all the while seeking to follow  God's step-by-step plan. And, like a cathedral, character can be quietly destroyed, little by little, in many hidden places, unseen even by those who know us best, undetected perhaps by ourselves, but never unnoticed by God. One day the storm comes and the structure crashes and great is the fall thereof. The people ask, "What happened?" The deterioration of character is an "inside job." We drift from God and fall into sin, and then we try to avoid responsibility by blaming others or pleading extenuating circumstances; but the excuses won't stand in God's court.

The erosion of character usually begins with neglect: we stop reading the Word or worshiping with God's people, or taking time to meditate and pray. We stop hungering for holiness and exercising spiritual discipline and discernment. We stop making those sacrifices that show our special love for Christ and his people. We do our jobs mechanically because our heart isn't in it. In time, we find ourselves "making arrangements to sin," convinced that what nobody knows, we can get away with. The process is deadly: first the drifting, then the secret sinning, then the hidden eroding of character.

     Sow a thought and you reap an action.
     Sow an action and you reap a character.
     Sow a character and you reap a destiny.

(Taken from 10 Power Principles for Christian Service by Warren W. Wiersbe and David W. Wiersbe.)

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