Characters are not given but made. No man can literally
transfer his character to his son. The father may greatly influence
him but the son must make the choice to choose good character.
If characters could be made by Christian fathers and deeded
to their sons, as property can, we should have grand accumulated
worth in our young men. Character is never ready made. It is
new with each man. And each man makes a character peculiar to
himself,--as peculiar as his personality. A man's countenance
is not more his own than his character. Indeed, a man's character
is in a sense his spiritual countenance, by which he is known
from other men. If we could disrobe men of the flesh, we should
find them clothed in such characters as they have made for themselves,
and we should know them by their characters, rather than by
anything else we could see of them. We should then see and know
them as they are. Character is the reflex or expression of what
a man is, yea, his very soul, rather than what he professes
to be, or what he is reputed to be. The real man is known by
his character. That never lies. His profession may be widely
different and his reputation be still different from both. Profession
is cheap and plenty. Character of the truest, highest--the ideal
type is costly and rare,--costly because it required God's Son's
death so we may be saved and with Christ living through us we
may develop Christ-like character! It's rare because compared
to all those who have walked, or will walk, on the face of the
earth few have accepted Christ's sacrifice and thus live to
develop His character.
If reputation was character there would probably be far more
genuine character than there now is, because reputation has
many cheap and easy ways of extending and exalting itself which
character has no part or lot in. Reputation is bought and sold;
character is not. Reputation may be suddenly made; character
always slowly. Reputation may be out of all proportion to merit;
character is never. Reputations may be lost as soon as won;
character is steady. Reputation may illy befit a person; Christ-like
character always becomes him who wears it.
Our life is made up of penny contributions,--it is made up
of many little things, is the product of an innumerable number
of emotions, thoughts, purposes, efforts and acts, each of which
seems too insignificant to be worthy of noting. Little by little
we acquire knowledge, and little by little we transmute it into
wisdom. And so little by little do we transmute our thousand
everyday emotions, purposes, and acts into the substance of
who we are.
If the details of Christian duty are left undone--the Word
unread, family devotions neglected, Christian fellowship rejected,
what a coming short there is in the summing up of such a life.
If the student neglects the particulars of his lessons what
a failure he makes in the generals. If any one tells fibs how
surely his word will be at a discount when he tells truth.
It is a sad fact that most lives break down in details. Little
things do the mischief. Little habits, little vices, little
evil ways, little looseness of speech, or manner, or lust, or
lucre, or temper, or company, and an evil stream is started
that wears by and by a deep channel.
Oh, what a lesson here for the young, to shun the little beginnings
of wrong, and to show that in the care of the pennies and little
acts dollars and characters are made! What a treasury a Christian
man has within his reach each day as he chooses to submit to
Christ!
Edited by Titus 2 Ministry
