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Charisma vs. Character

21 September 2004 65 views No Comment

God’s working in me … I have always been attracted to Jesus’ passion and his charisma. I’ve always wanted those qualities in me as a leader and as a person. But, recently, I have been realizing that these are all external qualities. As I seek to have a deeper, intimate connection with God, I am much more drawn to the internal qualities of Jesus … his character. In fact, I found that Jesus’ charisma came from his character.

In reality, character is so much harder to develop because it so easy to overlook. Many spend their lives building and climbing, never even thinking about the unseen and at the end of life, some race to build it when it’s possibly too late. Listen to what Andy Stanley says about it:

“My point? Your character, not accomplishments or acquisitions, determines your legacy. Is that important? Yes, it’s very important. And the older you get, the more important it will become. The problem is, character is like a tree – it doesn’t develop overnight. Real character is developed over a lifetime. You can’t wait until the last minute, pull an all-nighter, and expect to earn a passing grade. The measure of a man or woman’s character is not determined by a fill-in-the-blank or true-or-false exam. This is an essay test. An essay that takes a lifetime to write. Today you wrote a section. It wasn’t a long section. By itself it probably wasn’t even a significant section. Today’s section was likely only a slight variation on yesterday’s. But look back in ten years – or twenty years – and you will be surprised. Whether it is a pleasant or unpleasant surprise is completely up to you.”

God, Thank you for your reminder that I can’t procrastinate on building my character. Work in me, in building my character, knowing that it doesn’t come easy.

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” – 1 Samuel 16:7 (NIV)

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