The Character of a Man

Don’t worry fellas, when I say man I mean mankind I won’t be coming for you guys :)… Anyways, God has been dealing with me ALOT these last few months about this topic. The topic is CHARACTER.

Webster’s definition of character is the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual.

Despite what I believe about myself, I am not perfect :). Since I am not perfect God has been dealing with me on certain characteristics in me that had to go.

Here are a few character traits God has been dealing with me on:

WALK IN PURITY

KEEP YOUR WORD

HAVE INTEGRITY

LOVE TRUTH

WALK IN PURITY– Before God delivered me I use to walk in a strong spirit of Jezebel. Most strong women do without knowing it. This is a highly manipulative spirit, therefor I was highly manipulative. Nothing I did at the time was pure. Everything I said or did had an ulterior motive or intentions behind it. One example is I would ask a question knowing I knew the answer because 3 questions down I had a point to make. Despite how strategic I thought I was to get to certain truths I still was walking in a spirit of manipulation. My motives weren’t pure. They were to catch someone in a lie instead of just exposing the lie. I am going to upset some people with saying this one. I also use to cater to men, be everything he would want me to be, with the hope that he would “pick me”. Despite what women think, this is highly manipulative. Majority of women become who the man they desire created them to be, rather than who God created them to be. Instead, God has shown me to be who HE has called me to be and the husband he has for me will recognize it. I will not have to convince him to choose me. God would have selected me for him and shown him. Then, I will cater to him :). Thankfully, God has cleansed my intentions and everything I do now I try to do from a pure heart.

KEEP YOUR WORD– The Bible says to let your yes be yes and your no be no because anything more than this is from the devil [Matthew 5:37]. Why, is anything more than this from the devil? Because when you do not keep your word this can cause an offense (click the link to see the definition of offense).This could cause a door to open for the person you offended and allow satan to walk right into their life. For example, I once knew someone who would always make plans and cancel them last minute. This used to frustrate me and opened the door in my soul to a spirit of abandonment and rejection. What I didn’t know then, that I know now, is that they unknowingly were being used by the enemy to open a door in my life so the enemy could step right in. Do not allow certain character flaws in you to cause a friend to stumble. You have no idea what people have fought to get out of and how the enemy can use this particular character flaw in you to cause others to stumble back into rejection/abandonment or even destroy them.

HAVE INTEGRITY – We were taught in grade school what integrity means. “Integrity is doing the right thing when no one is looking”. Welp, that really sums it up but lets add a little more to that. Job chapter 31 is a great example of integrity. A few things that Job described as integral was:

1. Job made a covenant with his eyes to not even look at a woman with any lustful desires. (Job 31:1)
2. He no longer spoke vanity- empty words that had no meaning. I took this as no longer telling people what sounds good but instead sharing raw honesty, with no exaggerations. [Job 31:5]
3. Job never rejected a person who had an issue with him and always heard them out. [Job 31:13].
4. He never refused to give to those in need when he had more than enough. [Job 31:17]

For more on integrity in the Bible, read the rest of Job 31!

LOVE TRUTH! This characteristic is becoming nonexistent in today’s society, even amongst those who call themselves ‘Christians’. The truth has become subjective and those who love it are increasingly rare. A lot of times, I think how could some people fall so easily for the stuff that the news/society is spilling out but God showed me that people no longer love truth. If you love truth, you will seek the truth and the Holy Spirit will reveal it to you. A person with character will always seek the truth.

I recently discussed with my friends that Godly character is so important for a believer. I use to think God’s grace covered my lack of character. Because God is merciful and forgiving I could continue in my character flaws. God showed me if I was his child then why wouldn’t I want my Father’s characteristics? These attributes are markers of recognizing that you are HIS child. When I look at my son and see certain mannerisms he has I can’t help but think about his Dad. It’s in his blood. That is how God wants people to look at his children, he wants the world to see our mannerisms and think of Him.

Written by: Elisarri