Character that counts is a trait that everyone wants — when I say character, I mean the good variety. A Wall Street broker had fallen in love with a young lady and began dating her. He was very wealthy, and he had to be careful whom he related to. He didn’t want to relate to somebody who would damage him or only come after him for his money. So he had one of his associates hire a private detective to find out everything there was to find out about this lady. He didn’t want to make a mistake. He also didn’t want the private eye to know whom he was doing the investigation for, lest the girl finds out later and think that her love didn’t trust her. The broker got his associate to hire a private eye to check up on this lady without telling the detective who was making the assignment and paying the bill. After several weeks, the report came back on the young lady whom the broker was considering. The report said, “I have investigated this young lady, and she has a squeaky clean life. Perfect in every detail, no flaws, no known mistakes. She is on the up and up in every possible way. However, there is one little possible blip on the screen of her life. She is often seen around town in the company of a young broker whose dubious business practices and principles are well known.” You see, the problem may just be you.¹ The Bible talks about character, so we will focus on why God Has Called You to Cultivate a Character that Counts — all in this week’s Light on Life.

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Each week’s podcast contains a call to action. The Word of God will not produce in your life unless you put it into operation.
This week’s call is:

Commit yourself today to excellence in your character. Make the quality decision to live a life where character counts. 

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Testimony is vital to a believer’s life. We overcome via the witness of our lips (Rev. 12:11). Each week’s podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony.
This week’s question is:

Question: What other areas have you found which helped you to become more open to the will of God? Please share this in the comments section below.

Episode Resources:

You can find additional information on the subject of the will of God in the resources listed below.

1. How Do I Find My Place in God?

About Emery

Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 40 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. Both he and his wife Sharon of 35 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is both the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.

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Podcast Notes

Peter Talks about Character that Counts

2 Peter 1:3–4 (ESV) — 3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

• Listen to the same two verses in the KJV.

2 Peter 1:3–4 (KJV 1900) — 3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

• The words that we are zooming in on today are the words ‘called us to glory and virtue.’
• Specifically the word virtue.
• The ESV has God has the translation as called us to glory and excellence.
• The KJV has it as God has the translation called us to glory and virtue.
• The word excellence or virtue is the target.
• Those are the English translations of the word used in Greek.
• What is virtue?
• And with that thought, here is the Definition of the Day.
• The Greek word here means the quality of moral excellence—‘outstanding goodness, virtue²
• BDAG has it as excellence of character.
• Here are some other ways the word is translated in your Bible?
• How about ‘genuine piety?’
• Piety is habitual reverence and obedience to God.
• So, obeying God is part of excellence of character.
• You may not have thought of it that way.
• The word is also translated as ‘reverence’ or ‘fear of God.’
• So, a person of excellent character fears and habitually reverences the Lord.
• The Greek word for virtue also translates as ‘godliness.’
• Godliness is the quality of being godly or like the Lord.

Peter: An Example of Character that Counts

• Now, strong tradition has it that both the Apostle Peter and the Apostle Paul died under the persecution of the Roman Emperor Nero.
• Nero’s reign ended in 68 AD, which would mean Peter’s death would fall in that vicinity.
• This second epistle of Peter was written shortly before his death.
• So, when we read this second epistle of Peter, what we are reading is the encouragement of a man who had physically walked with Jesus.
• And then, continued to walk with God, run the race, feed the sheep, do the plan after Jesus was taken up into heaven right before his eyes.
• When you read Second Peter, you’re reading the words of a seasoned warrior apostle.
• A man who has proved the Word of God out in his everyday life.
• What does he say?
• What are Peter’s last words to us?
• Well, he wrote his last words in this letter.
• He said you’ve been called to moral excellence in your character.
• Now to achieve that, you must love that.
• Are you in love with character?
• I’m not talking about being a character — I’m talking about displaying character.
• Does it thrill your heart when you are in its presence?

Gene Stallings tells of an incident when he was defensive backfield coach of the Dallas Cowboys. Two All-Pro players, Charlie Waters and Cliff Harris, were sitting in front of their lockers after playing a tough game against the Washington Redskins. They were still in their uniforms, and their heads were bowed in exhaustion. Waters said to Harris, “By the way, Cliff, what was the final score?” As these men show, character that counts isn’t determined by comparing our score to someone else’s. Excellence comes from giving one’s best, no matter the score.³

• God, by His power, has called us to give our best no matter the score.
• Now with all of that said, let’s go back to Ephesians 2:10.

Ephesians 2:10 (ESV) — 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

• We, the followers of Jesus, the born-again children of God, are His workmanship.
• Your redemption in Christ is excellent.
• God did an excellent job when He saved you.
• What He did, He did with His might.
• God did it all the way.
• He made you a new creation in Christ 2 Corinthians 5:21 says.
• He held nothing back.
• He made you a joint heir with Christ granting you an inheritance that leaves nothing out.
• So, you are God’s excellent workmanship on display every day.
• You are His handiwork.
• Now, He has called you to works which were prepared beforehand.
• You were created to that end.
• How are you going to handle those works?
• With what spirit, what passion, what excellence will you put into doing the works that you’ve been called to accomplish?
• You have been called to character that counts.
• You have been called to represent Jesus to others; quit being mediocre.
• Do not accept mediocrity in any area of your life.
• Make the determination not to be a ‘halfway to the peak person.’
• Instead, choose to go all the way to the top.

In his book Lyrics, Oscar Hammerstein tells of the time he saw a picture of the top of the head of the Statue of Liberty, taken from a helicopter. He was amazed at the detail and painstaking work that was done on the lady’s hair. Hammerstein reflected that the sculptor could not have imagined, even in his wildest dreams, that one day there would be a device that could look on top of the head of his creation. Yet he gave as much care to that part of the statue as he did to the face, arms, and legs. He wrote, “When you are creating a work of art, or any other kind of work, finish the job off perfectly. You never know when a helicopter, or some other instrument not at the moment invented, may come along and find you out.”⁴

• Whatever your hands find to do, do it with your might — the very best that you can do.

Character that Counts Is What Everybody Wants

Romans 5:3–5 (ESV) — 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

• Employers want to see character in their employees.
• Employees want it in abundance from their supervisors and managers.
• Everybody wants their kids to brim with it.
• It’s one of the single most important things everybody wants.
• Do you think the world enjoys dealing with people who have awful character?
• Ask the victims of heinous crimes that question, and you will understand the vital nature of righteous character.
• No one wants to be on the wrong end of the stick here.

John 8:44 (ESV) — 44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

• Has the world enjoyed dealing with liars?
• What about you?
• When you make a major purchase, like a car or a house, do you want the person you are dealing with to be ethical, honest, and tell you the truth?
• Managers, when you are trying to hire someone, do you want that person to be truthful, to not lie on their application?
• Do you enjoy digging through deception?
• Does it make feel good to have to unravel untruth?
• Are you happy about having to trench through trickery?
• What about being drug through disinformation?
• How does that shake up your spinal cord?
• Let’s take this discussion to the home life.
• Do you want your spouse to be truthful with you?
• Do you want them to be faithful to you?
• Nobody enjoys the mess that lying produces.

Proverbs 6:16–19 (ESV) — 16 There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18 a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, 19 a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.

• Good character is what the world wants.
• It’s what corporations all over the world want.
• Surely, it should be what believers in Jesus want.
• It should be easy to see that bad behavior compromises a righteous witness.

How to Develop Character that Counts

• As we said before, character is the quality of moral excellence.
• It is the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual.
• The word originated from the word ‘chisel’ or engrave.
• So put in your mind a mental picture of a block of wood.
• Now, add to that image a sculptor who takes that wood and carves out of it some kind of image, a statute, or a figure.
• When you put all of that together, you have a nice word picture of what it means to develop character.
• Building character is chiseling.
• Constructing character is carving out of your person good moral qualities.
• For followers of Jesus, it’s allowing the fruits of the spirit to shine out of the inside of you.
• Character traits are developed one hammer blow at a time.
• Character traits are ingrained or become habitual by hundreds of hammer blows.
• A good character trait is formed and fashioned by hundreds of decisions made over time.
• It’s saying yes to God’s love over and over again.

Deuteronomy 30:19 (ESV) — 19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live,

• Choosing character is choosing life.

Joshua 24:15 (ESV) — 15 And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

• You make this decision once.
• But you declare it continually.
• It’s not like the wife who said to her husband one day, ‘Honey; you never tell me that you love me.’ The husband replied: ‘I told you that I loved you the day I married you. If I change my mind, I will let you know!’
• Well, that doesn’t work, does it?
• NO, you make your choice, but you testify to your choice over and over.
• Situations confront you – moral dilemmas they are called.
• You must make a choice.
• Are you going to choose the ways of God over the ways of men?
• Chiseled character, character that counts is developed by choices made over the long haul.
• Now, I’m talking about good character.
• If you haven’t made good choices, you can reverse this trend.

Honesty As A Core Character Value that Counts

• Honesty ought to be one of your core values as a Jesus follower.
• How do you develop honesty in your life?
• By making hundreds of right decisions where you were confronted with a choice.
• Do I tell the truth, or do I not tell the truth?
• You have to ask yourself; do you really believe the word in Proverbs 6:16 – that we have already quoted — that lying is something God hates?
• These verses from God’s Word ought to be enough to persuade any believer of the importance of truth-telling.
• Listen to these other verses of the subject.

Proverbs 12:22 (ESV) — Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, but those who act faithfully are his delight.

Proverbs 14:5 (ESV) — A faithful witness does not lie, but a false witness breathes out lies.

Proverbs 26:28 (ESV) — A lying tongue hates its victims, and a flattering mouth works ruin.

Psalm 5:6 (ESV) — You destroy those who speak lies; the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

Psalm 120:2 (ESV) — Deliver me, O LORD, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue.

Psalm 120:3 (ESV) — What shall be given to you, and what more shall be done to you, you deceitful tongue?

Hosea 4:1 (ESV) — Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, for the LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land;

Hosea 4:2 (ESV) — there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.

Revelation 22:15 (ESV) — Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

How to Make Character Count and Prevent Moral Failure Occurs

• A moral failure doesn’t just happen.
• If you experienced a moral failure in your life and thought back on the day, it took place, know that the failure didn’t just happen on that day.
• You may have time-stamped that date in your mind and wish you had that day back.
• Maybe you wished you could go back in time and do that day over again, averting the negative outcome.
• But, the moral failure didn’t happen on that day.
• You’d have to go much further back in time to find the cause.
• Character failures happened during hundreds of decisions made previous to that day.
• It’s where you compromised a little here and you compromised a little there.
• It’s those compromises that led up to the failure.
• Compromise is a character that counts killer.

The following is a Russian parable. A hunter raised his rifle and took careful aim at a large bear. When about to pull the trigger, the bear spoke in a soft, soothing voice, “Isn’t it better to talk than to shoot? What do you want? Let us negotiate the matter.” Lowering his rifle, the hunter replied, “I want a fur coat.” “Good,” said the bear, “that is a negotiable question. I only want a full stomach, so let us negotiate a compromise.” They sat down to negotiate, and after a time the bear walked away alone. The negotiations had been successful. The bear had a full stomach, and the hunter had his fur coat. Compromise rarely satisfy both sides in equal measure.⁵

• I heard this quote years ago.
• The quote originated, I’m told, from the lips of Oral Roberts.

Whatever you compromise to keep, you will ultimately lose.

• So you ever want to build strong character, you don’t start with the character trait you are singularly trying to develop. “You know, I’m going to learn all about being disciplined or follow-through, and I am going to get good at it.”
• Or I am going, to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
• Again building character that counts is not just knowing the ten verses that we’ve already quoted on the subject.
• That’s not the starting point.
• You start by dedicating yourself to obey those verses.
• Character that counts starts with doing the Word no matter what.
• Commitment to obey is chapter one in the book character that counts.
• You start with the dedication, ‘I will not compromise my values.’
• To build character that counts, you start by addressing the spirit of compromise.

What Is Compromise?

• What does the word mean?
• The word compromise is made up of two words, ‘com’ and ‘promise’ — COM-PROMISE.
• Developing character COMES from making a PROMISE to yourself.
• A promise that you won’t violate your integrity.
• A promise that you will be honest.
• A promise that you’ll walk in humility, not in pride.
• A promise that you will walk in whatever character trait it is you are trying to develop.
• That’s a promise you make to yourself.
• When you com-promise or compromise, you are accepting a standard or standards that are lower than is desired.
• In fact, one definition of compromise is a dishonorable or shameful concession.
• Compromisers concede.
• They cave-in.
• Again, you can’t develop good character in your life by just dealing with the character trait itself.
• The road to development begins with a quality decision to refuse to compromise.
• And then, stick the landing.
• Write the quote down the Oral Roberts quote stated earlier.
• Don’t forget it.
• Whatever you compromise to keep, you will ultimately lose.
• If you compromise your values, your ethics to keep some money in your pocket, you’ll ultimately lose that money in the long run.
• If you compromise in your relationships, you will ultimately lose those relationships for whatever temporal satisfaction you may experience from that compromising moment.
• You will not build character that counts.
• Your building will collapse.
• You cannot build a life on poor character.
• Poor character is a corrupt foundation.
• Whatever you compromise to keep, you will lose.

How Character that Counts Becomes Character that Doesn’t

• Sherman and Hendricks details a seven-step process that, if left unrecognized, leads to moral compromise.
• Here are the steps.
  • A failure to commit ahead of time to do the right thing.
  • Underestimating evil and flirting with dangerous temptations, thus being exposed to far more powerful evils.
  • A failure to recognize the numerous forms of compromise lurking at every corner of life.
  • A failure to recognize the smooth flatteries and enticing fantasies of temptations.
    • For example, overstating expenses on your expense report.
      • After all, your company has a large budget, and you’ve been a loyal employee who works overtime.
  • Succumbing to slick rationalizations.
    • I have a Christian acquaintance who is proud of the fact that through the process of bartering, he can avoid paying additional income tax, even though this is illegal.
  • A sudden, deliberate choice to give in to sin.
  • A failure to consider the costly consequences of sin.⁶

Character that Counts in the Work Place

Colossians 3:22 (KJV) — 22 Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God:

• ‘Servants obey your masters’ refers to character in the workplace.
• Why would we take valuable time to talk about character in the workplace?
• Maybe we should just talk about character in church?
• The truth is you are who you are no matter where you are.
• Church, home, workplace, anywhere — you are who you are no matter where you go.
• Character-wise, you’re the same person everywhere your sneakers take you.
• There’s not two of you.
• Your better twin is not the one who comes to work.
• If you cheat on your taxes at home, you’ll cheat on your paperwork at work.
• If you lie to your spouse at home, you won’t have any trouble lying to the person you report to at work.
• When you lock your front door to come to work or push the remote on your garage door opener to come to your place of employment, your character goes with you.
• Vice-versa, when you can punch the clock to go home, your character makes the return trip.
• You are who you are everywhere you go, church, work, home, it’s all the same.
• If you strip away everything that you have, if we take the money away, the house, or houses away, the cars away, the recreational stuff away, all the assets away, if we take it all away, what’s left is who you are.
• And, who you are today is based on hundreds of decisions you have made and subsequently carved into your character leading up to today.
• Be intent on having character that counts.
• You guys have a great God-day and we will see you next time for another edition of Light on Life.

Counting the Cost of Being a Jesus Follower

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