Main Title : You Can Stand on This

By Pastor Michael Magbag

Scripture :

Proverbs 4:25-27
New International Version (NIV)

Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet  and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.

Recently I picked up a John Maxwell book. The first chapter was titled “Character.” I assume we all want character. We may boast of the essential qualities that make strong character such as honesty, commitment, principle and courage, but talk is cheap.

One of the quickest ways to evaluate your character is by watching what happens to your attitudes during "adversity". You know what that is. It may be misfortune, illness, business failure, disaster, bad luck, distress, or some other kind of trouble.

We have all had some of the above. It's in those moments that we discover our REAL character. Will we choose the path of character or will we succumb to compromise? No one needs a character when there is no adversity. But let trouble come - what will we stand for?

I thought for a few minutes about my own life and asked myself a question. Do I have any gray areas? Is my character clear? Do I choose the right way instead of the easy way? I realized the way to build a character is to pay attention to the gray areas first. Things that are not quite right but not really wrong.

Watch the gray areas - don’t slide into compromise. Then your character will be strong. Be transparent. Be black and white and you will never have to worry about what others know. There will be no secrets and therefore nothing to hide! And on that principle stands a good character.