Hope

Rick Warren sent me this quotation the other day. I like it.

 

Wisdom is knowing the right thing to do.

Character is doing it when you don't feel like it.

 

Whether it is in our own self-talk or in speaking to others, we usually know the right things to say and do. When we need NOT to spend money on things we don't need to impress people we don't like (paraphrasing Will Rogers) or to make us feel (temporarily) good. When the kids need to be unhappy with our decisions not because it makes them happy but because it will make them human. When it's time to forget our own pleasure and enter into the pain or trouble of another. When it is time to go to church instead of coming up with excuses. We know what's right and can talk it up pretty well.

 

We know what is right. But do we have the character to DO it? Character takes continual practice. My mother called those moments when it was time to act on what's right when I would rather not, "character builders."  Paul confesses that he often does the very thing he hates even when he know what's right. Paul describes how God builds character in the beginning of Romans 5:3-5

 

Today, you will either be building up character in yourself or your children or be tearing it down. There is no neutral point. Every decision counts. People of character are more hopeful in all circumstances. May you choose to act on what you know is right today. I'll be praying for you.