loveworshiplovelife

I have twittered it and I even quoted it on my last blog. I told it to the guys on the C3 Management team on Sunday morning and have been telling it to people whenever I think they’ll listen. “CHARACTER IS EASIER KEPT THAN RECOVERED” It is usually my habit when I find something I really like that I tell people about it for days, so this little ditty, right here, is no different.

It really is a short quote but if you think about it, no, really think about it, it is very powerful. When I look back over my life and I look at circumstances that people have gone through when character is lost, it is devastating. Can someone recover character that has been lost. Of course they can, BUT, it is never an easy process and I would venture to say that it is never totally restored. Let me qualify that last statement. Restored in the context that not everyone will trust that person again. I believe there are degrees of actions that carry degrees of consequences that affect the overall character quotient of a person. I can not define these degrees because we all have lapses in character at some point or the other and based on the circumstances of the situation determines if the recovery is easy or hard.

Now some of you will say character is character, no matter how big or small the misstep, and I totally agree, but what I am discussing is the ease at which a person recovers after character has been lost not the definition of character itself. So, in my opinion and I think most of you would agree, an example of someone having an extra-marital affair would be much harder to recover from than someone lying about their age. Are both character issues and speak to the condition of a person’s heart? Yes, but is one much easier to recover from than the other? Yes.

So why am I talking about all of this? Well, like I said, looking back at people that have lost their character in any number of circumstances, and their difficulty in recovering character, it makes me strive never to lose it in the first place. I am by no means perfect, none of us are, but the struggles of trying to recover after character has been lost is an incentive to keep it in the first place. Keeping character will cause us to make hard choices that at particular moments seem hard and go against what our sinful nature wants to do. The cool thing is that God has promised to help us out during the times when the choices are the most tough and temptation is knocking. In reality it is much easier to hold on to your character no matter the choice than to recapture it after you have let it slip away.

So in conclusion, hold character tightly and don’t let it go. Character gives you the credibility you need to be a positive influence to all those around you. If you lose character you have lost your influence and it will never totally be recovered. My prayer is that I will keep my character close and God even closer. I’m pretty sure that if the latter holds true then the former will not be a problem. “CHARACTER IS EASIER KEPT THAN RECOVERED”