A Worthy Character- Liking the You that Lives in the Real World

“God wanted you to learn something from this experience, so He made you fail.”

“The Spirit told me to marry this man.  I just wish I could stand him…”

“I know I’m in debt and financially floundering, but that job offer just didn’t feel right.  I should reject it and wait for the right job to come along.”

What does it mean to have a worthy character?

When I think of someone having a worthy character, I think of a person who has the ability to be a good person in the real world.  Sounds basic, right?  I don’t believe it is. I hear statements like those above on a weekly basis, statements that essentially express this attitude:  “God (my mom, my boss, luck, fate, etc.) controls my life, so I’m not really responsible for the outcome of my actions.”  It’s an attitude that suggests that God is the one responsible for selecting our spouses, and wether or not we do well on that work presentation.  If that were true, well, we’d all have a worthy character just by having a good attitude while enduring the life that God has laid out for us!  We’d be like little marbles, rolling down an intricate track to a marked destination.  That sounds so… easy.

But we don’t live in that convenient world.  We live in a world where WE make choices and WE suffer the consequences. We live in a world where we do our very best sometimes to prepare for that work presentation, and then find that upon the moment of delivery, we still get nervous and choke.  We live in a world where we sometimes regret the romantic choices we made a decade ago, and it has everything to do with it being OUR choice, and not to do with outside pressures or impressions. The question is, do we have the COURAGE to have a worthy character and live in the real world at the same time?

It requires so much.  Being realistic and being worthy is such a difficult balance.  It requires that we are truly humble, and able to admit to our own failings.  We have to be able to confess to ourselves that our current circumstances are (almost) completely within our control, and if we don’t like them, it’s OUR problem to fix.

It’s so hard to maintain a strong, moral character in this world. It requires that we banish deception, and embrace truth.  Self-reflection becomes very important.  Action becomes essential.  No longer can we imagine, “It’s ok that I never got an education or polished a skill.  God has a different plan for me.”  Having a strong character in the real world would require us to admit, “Looks like I fell short on that one. What can I do to make it right?”

People who have a strong moral fiber leave lasting impressions on the world.  Even after they’re dead, their influence lives on.  Consider the author of “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” series, C.S. Lewis.  He knew what he knew, and he really STOOD for something.  Yet you get the sense, by reading his works, that he was a very worldly (in a good way) man.  He had an appreciation for this earthly existence, yet he tempered that lust for life with a humble reverence for the spiritual sphere. They appear to have been united in his mind, and as a result, he’s still greatly admired for his character today.

Will I leave a lasting impression on the world?  Or is the world leaving its impressions on me…?