Building Character
1. Character
and religion:
Our character is not our
religion, though our religious beliefs will affect our character. Our beliefs
affect our character development if we understand that we will give account to
God for our behavior. Every person has a character regardless of his or her
religious
beliefs. It is for this
reason that every person must seek to develop a good character
in
order to be a good citizen of any society. We must focus
on being a person
of integrity in order to
be honorable citizens in our communities. Character development is absolutely necessary
for developing a life that is rich with success and good relationships
2. Character and
Conscience Everyone has a conscience. If
we do not do that which we think is right, we hurt or violate our conscience. A
good character that originates from a God-trained conscience moves us to do
right in order that we not violate our conscience. In order to define and develop
a good conscience that is based on eternal moral and ethical principles, we
must look for moral and ethical principles that originate from God
Everyone has developed
in his or her life that which he or she considers to be right.
We seek to do good according
to what we believe is right. Character development is knowing and
practicing correct principles by which we can determine what is good
or bad. We develop our conscience with good moral and ethical principles
in order to guide ourselves to do that which is right.
Our
character determines how we will respond to every situation in life. Our character, therefore, is manifested by our encounters with
people and situations.
• Good
characters will make the best of bad situations.
• Bad
characters will often make the worst of good situations.
It is necessary to
develop our characters so we know how to interact in all situations of life,
whether good or bad.
3. Character
Building Rules:
God’s standards upon
which good characters are built have been time-tested and accepted as true and
good by men of all ages. Because we are the creation of God, God has placed
within us a conscience to do right and good to our fellow man. God is the
source from which good character principles can be discovered. Upon His
principles great characters are built. We assume that God knows best
concerning the development of our characters for successful living
because He is our Creator. He created us, and then created principles
for abundant living.
Research Thought
In 1844, a deceased
citizen gave the city of Philadelphia in the state of Pennsylvania in America a
large sum of money in his will. The money was to be used in teaching orphans
the “purest principles of morality.” However, the heirs of the deceased man
wanted his money for themselves. As a result, they sued and the case went
before the Supreme Court of the United States. The Supreme Court ruled in favor
of the directions of the deceased person’s will. In addition, the
Court ruled that the New Testament be used as the textbook for teaching orphans
moral principles. The Court stated, “Where can the purest
principles of morality be learned so clearly or so perfect as
from
the New Testament?”( Vidal vs Girard’s Executors; 43 U.S. 127, 200 [1844]).
4. Nation building:
Almost
all religions teach the same principles for moral, ethical and character
development. Many religious faiths of the world accept the Bible as
the primary source of moral and ethical principles in developing our
characters. In fact, the first president of the United States, George
Washington, said, “It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and
the Bible.” The great educator, Noah Webster, once said, “The Bible must be
considered as the great source of all truth by which men are to be guided in
government, as well as in all social transactions.”William Lyon Phelps once
wrote, “Western civilization is founded upon the Bible; our ideas, our
wisdom, our philosophy, our literature, our art, our ideals come more
from the Bible than from all other books put
together. It is a
revelation of divinity and of humanity.” Though the Bible has been used as the
foundation upon which many civil constitutions have been developed, God does
not intend that the Bible be used directly as the actual constitution for any
government. He only desires that men in writing their constitutions
for civil government be guided by His principles for national building.
Good constitutions are based on timeless moral and ethical principles by
which God seeks to build every nation of the world for all history.
For
more information or Counseling on home, family life, marriage life or parenting and choosing life partner contact him @ e-mail:pastorrolandenearu@yahoo.com or call + 2348084999199, +234
7033600002. Whatsapp 08076699959 visit: www.euniceroland.blogspot.com; www.pastorroland.blogspot.com; www.happyhomeandlife.blospot.com
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