Our Christ-centered DNA describes the center of who we are as a church. Our mission, vision, model, strategy, and values all come from our DNA which defines who we are, how we do what we do, and why!

This week: Our Value #1 = Character

Read Pastor Tito’s Sermon Summaries on https//:www.medium.com/@pastortito/  or below

THE CONTENT OF CHARACTER

Learning how to live a whole and holy life

“Character is made in the small moments of our lives.”  Phillips Brooks

As a child, I spend most of my summer vacation at either of my grandparent’s houses.  My brother and I would play with our other cousins for hours outside.  One time I will never forget because of what happened when I came back inside.  I was extremely thirsty from all the running and playing and I came in desperate for a drink.  I flung open the refrigerator door and I saw what seems to be a freshly poured glass of Coca-Cola.  I didn’t care whose it was, I was thirsty, so I grabbed it and began to chug.  I was drinking so fast that it took me by my third gulp to begin to realize, “this isn’t coke!”.  It was a tall glass of my grandmother’s stale prune juice.  I was not a fan.

I was fooled by the content of the glass because it appeared to be something that it wasn’t.  There are many people who walk around fooling everyone because their outward appearance and actions appears to be one thing, but the content of their character is nothing but a lumpy glass of sour prune juice.  Why are we so critical of hypocrites?  Because they are people who say one thing and do another.  Our character is our reputation, and our reputation is a result of our repeated actions over time.  Companies invest so much in their reputation because consistent character develops trust and confidence in the eyes of consumers.  This works the same way on a personal level.  You would never tell someone a juicy secret or a painful struggle if you didn’t trust them with it.  When it comes to the content of our character, how we walk makes a louder statement than how we talk.  So, what kind of story are you telling?

Character is a sum of our actions and attitude.  What you believe will influence how you behave, and how you behave has the power to influence what others believe.  Christians need to be careful about the kind of character we are creating each day because the way we live is the evidence of the God who lives in us.

Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out.  Proverbs 10:9 (ESV)

Good character counts in more ways than one.  King Solomon eloquently communicated many times this truth through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, especially in this specific proverb.  People with integrity, or good character, walk securely.  Those who don’t are exposed.  We’ve all lived a double life at some point or have told so many lies that we can’t even keep our own story straight.  Having to deal with the balancing act of truth and lies isn’t joyful living.  It’s stressful.  I’ve always said that God loves you so much that He will go through you in order to get through to you.  One way that God gets to us is by exposing our private sin.  If left unchecked, we would do even more damage to our lives.  Out of His goodness, the Lord will expose our private wickedness in order to save us from ourselves.  I’ve been there and I own the t-shirt of that experience.

I’m so much happier learning to be a person of integrity because I am also secure from any critics.  Everyone gets talked about in a negative sense one way or another.  Gossip and slander exist way beyond Middle School.  People who know the real you can spot the inconsistencies and fabrications when they hear negative things about you.  Not only does walking in Christ-like integrity keeps us secure from critics, it also keeps us secure from the devil’s accusations.  We don’t ever have to fear standing before the Lord after death when the Father has washed us clean of our sins with the blood of Jesus!   Every time the devil and his demons bring up your faults, you respond with faith in God.  If you do this, He will defend you, not because you are guiltless but because you are forgiven.  Walking in integrity is a process of being freed by the Holy Spirit of God of all the things that corrupt our character and wreck our purity.

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.   For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.   For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.  But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.  James 1:22-25 (ESV)

Good character needs to be cultivated.  It doesn’t sprout on its own.  We must look inward and not outward in order to do this, avoiding looking at the flaws of others with a telescope and instead looking at ourselves with the mirror of God’s Word.  The Apostle James highlights that Christian character is cultivated by being doers and not just hearers.  We must believe in God’s character and apply His Word if we want to see our behavior molded into God’s image.  The Word of God that is captured in the pages of the Bible reveal to us who we are and who God is.  The law of liberty that James proclaims is the Word of God that sets us truly free!  That’s why Christians shouldn’t read the Bible like a tourist, admiring the many truths like if they were paintings in a museum.  Christians should read the Bible like treasure hunters, mining the many truths of God and depositing them into our souls so we can apply them in our lives.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17 (ESV)

God’s character has “no variations”, meaning it doesn’t change and it can’t improve any more.  He acts the same way with each of us.  He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  He is perfect and holy, and we are not.  The character that Christians should be developing looks more like Jesus each day.  God doesn’t expect us to be God, but He does desire for us to be more like Him in the way we think and act.  It’s not good enough to have an appearance of Godliness on the outside if the content of our hearts tells a different story.  The word “Integrity” is related to the word “integer” which is a mathematical description of whole numbers.  Whole numbers can be divided equally into two. Take 4 and divide in half and you have two sets of equal numbers (2,2).  When you divide your life into two, private and public, are the results equal?  Are they consistent?  The truth is that no one truly has “whole” or holy character.  It’s uneven.  It’s odd.

But what isn’t odd is that God knows this and yet doesn’t love us any less!  In fact, He loves us so much He wants to help renew us into who He has destined us to be!  To discover this, we must learn to ask a question.  Does my behavior match what I say I believe?   When you realize that it doesn’t, in one way or another, know it’s ok.  You can come to God and He will cover you with the righteousness of Christ and continue to perfect you.  We can walk securely, knowing that God’s love for us and His opinion of us will never change!

Remember that our behavior has the power to influence the beliefs of others.  Living out our faith with Christ-like character will impact the way others view Jesus.  When people drink from the cups of our lives, are they receiving the refreshing experience of God’s loving nature, or are they repulsed by the bitterness of our sinful nature?  It’s impossible to be perfect.  But through Christ, it is possible to grow in our consistency, for our faith in Jesus empowers people who are nothing like Christ to develop Christ-like character!  Let us enjoy walking securely in the never-changing character of God so we and many others can learn to live a more peaceful, joyful, and hopeful life through a personal and loving relationship with the giver of life.