character is defined as,
–noun
1.
the aggregate of features and traits that form the individualnature of some person or thing.
2.
one such feature or trait; characteristic.
3.
moral or ethical quality: a man of fine, honorable character.
4.
qualities of honesty, courage, or the like; integrity: It takescharacter to face up to a bully.
5.
reputation: a stain on one's character.
6.
good repute.
7.
an account of the qualities or peculiarities of a person orthing.
8.
a person, esp. with reference to behavior or personality: asuspicious character.
for me this character is essentially the "stuff" that makes someone up. it is the very essence of who a person is. and you can tell a lot about a person by their character. a lot.
this all started the other day at soccer practice. for those of that do not know, i am the assistant soccer coach at Hillcrest Christian school. we are getting ready for playoffs and we had a very tedious and tactical practice on monday. afterwords we ran, and usually after a round of running i talk to them. ask them questions. and on this particular day i asked them what we did and why we did it. hands down the number one answer was "To build character coach." i honestly laughed at them and told them that they had been playing high school sports way too long. but as much as i wanted to disagree with them, we were building character. team character. and that can be on so many different levels. a team is made up of different people, each with unique abilities that contribute to the success of the team as a whole. coaches and players work individually, yet as a unit. and for us to practice tactical drills such as passing technique, trapping the ball, and small space possession essentially builds team character.
i saw this again on Thursday night at the last regular season basketball game at Hillcrest. Landon (the young man that i am mentoring/discipling) played in the JV boys game, which they ended up winning, but in this particular game, he didnt play so well. really none of them did a phenomenal job, but what made it interesting is that even though Landon didnt have an amazing game and spent most of his time on the bench, he didnt spend it sitting down like the other 8 or so folks with him. he stood and applauded his teammates on as they attemped to work their tails off to win the game. as i thought about that, this simple act spoke so highly of Landon's character. he desired to lift his team up and support them on any level that he possibly could. and i know that this is a direct reflection of the Love that is in Landon's life. his heart belongs to Christ and that is the driving factor surrounding the nature of who Landon is.
as i began to think about all of this character stuff, i was reminded of the word sacrifice. as a team you sacrifice things of your self for the benefit of the team as a whole. that may be time, that may be energy, but all in all it is sacrificed. in Philippians 2:5-8, Paul describes the character if Jesus as follows:
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!
and not only was He a humble man, He also showed extreme amounts of love, perseverance, meekness, joy, hope, peace, servanthood, and holiness.
and to put into action Ephesians 5:1,
"Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children." (ESV)
i desire to have Christ-like character in my life. i want Him to be the driving force of who i am on a daily basis. i know He has made me to be me, but its only He who makes me holy. i want to be like Him. like my Dad.
what sort of things make you up? what is at the core of who you are?
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