Our Inner Character

I have rarely read a book about leadership that does not talk about character. It might be a book about the necessity of clear vision or of confident decision-making, but still it will talk about character. People seem to know that leaders without good character will still lead - but not in healthy directions. Character, both good and bad, starts on the inside and eventually flows into our actions.

A person of character is one in whom there is a consistency of beauty inside reflected in good actions outside. There is no duplicity. We call it integrity. The Bible tells us, however, that there is no one among us with perfect integrity. "All have sinned" is the message of the Scriptures. An honest acknowledgement of that fact is usually the starting point leading us to Jesus. When we come to Jesus, we find he tells us we have to change what controls our lives if we will become people of good character. The usual rulers of human lives are "the world, the flesh and the devil." The fallen systems and values of the world, our own selfish cravings, and the influence of a very personal evil one will always lead us away from being the people we know we should be. Jesus says we need a different lord than the ones most people in this world embrace. But that means that we must enter by faith into what Jesus called "the kingdom of God". We who follow Jesus are to live no longer for ourselves but for the king of this new kingdom, i.e., the Lord Jesus Christ.

But the practical question is: What does this new character look like? One of the best places to look for the answer to that question is Jesus' "Sermon on the Mount" in Matthew 5-7, sometimes called the "Christian Manifesto" or "Jesus' Design for Life". In it, Jesus discusses what he expects with regard to issue after issue all human beings face: relationships, revenge, religious activity, possessions, etc.

But we dare not overlook Jesus' starting point for the sermon. He starts by looking at what is to be inside the lives of his followers. When God begins his work in us, he works from our inside life to the outside. These character traits of people who are surrendered to Jesus are found in the "beatitudes" in Matthew 5:3-12. This weekend, we will see that these beatitudes are not vague platitudes but penetrating statements about the kinds of inner qualities Jesus approves of. They are descriptions of a truly Christlike character.

To His Glory,

Dr. Greg Waybright
Senior Pastor