WHO YOU ARE WHEN NO ONE IS LOOKING

By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.

© God’s Breath Publications

 

Character, a wise person once said, is what we are when no one is looking.

           

We live in a time when character and integrity are scarce commodities. Our marriages, families, churches and government are in dire need of people of God who have CHARACTER!

 

Several traits come to mind as we think of someone who has CHARACTER.

 

Courage: A woman confronts her terror of public speaking so she can tell her church congregation about her miraculous answer to prayer.

 

Discipline: An employer refuses to fall into temptation when one of his female employees propositions him.

 

Vision: A pastor calls fellow believers to a path of holiness so that a city can be reached for God’s glory.

 

Endurance: A teenager refuses to fall under the spell of pier pressure to use drugs as he associates with friends at school.

 

Love: A man forgives another man for sinning against him even though most people would say he was justified in being angry.

 

Character cannot be developed through resolutions and checklists. It takes consistent hard work over years to develop. It takes a heart seeking to do God’s will. It takes a heart that is patterned after our Savior Jesus Christ.

 

God’s Spirit should be our source for the power to live the life of character that He calls us to live.

 

2 Timothy 1:7

“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self‑discipline.”

 

We also have Christ’s example through His life.

 

Philippians 2:35

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.”

 

And finally we have guidance through His Word.

 

2 Timothy 3:16

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,”

 

We must also remember that no matter how good our character is we can never be saved because of it.

Ephesians 2:89

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast.”

 

All of us, every day must consistently practice and live a life of Godly character. We must practice Godly character in the little moments of life as well as the dramatic ones. This includes:

 

Relationally: Marriage, Parents, and Friends

Vocationally: Job (Employee, Employer)

Financially: Possessions, Spending

 

We can improve our character by facing our crippling fears, much as David did when he faced Goliath.

 

We can also improve our character by facing our sins and taking the discipline that God delivers, just as David did later in life when he confessed about Bathsheba.

 

It will also help improve our character if we surround ourselves with good role models,

 

1 Corinthians 15:33

“Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”

 

2 Corinthians 6:14

“Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?”

 

Hebrews 12:1

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

 

We must allow our minds to be transformed.

 

Romans 12:12

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

 

We must remember that as we face the struggles in life, God desires we have Godly character. But we must remember that our character comes from God working His will through us. We are being transformed by God’s Holy Spirit, as it says in II Corinthians 3:18 “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever‑increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”