Character is Everything!

Pastor Danny teaches that if we had to choose between wisdom or character, choose character every time!

It seems to me that so many people have forgotten what true character and integrity is really about. Often we are so concerned about who heard what from whom that we don't even seem to care about casualties that are taken down along the way.

One of my biggest pet peeves, is lying. I've never been able to handle lying. It completely negates any opportunity for trust in my book. I'm not going to say I've never lied or stretched the truth, but the older I get, the harder it is for me personally to stomach any sort of a lie, no matter how small. I literally get sick to my stomach if I stretch the truth. I think that's God's way of convicting me and keeping me on the straight and narrow.

I'm gaining a close second and almost a tie for first as far as pet peeves go, and that is gossip. I've never liked gossip and don't enjoy listening to it, but lately in my daily encounters there has been a lot of that going around. It all tends to start out as a, "well, I just thought you should know. . . " or a, "I don't want to tattle, but I heard . . . " or a "well, I'm going to tell you this so you can be praying too . . ." Ugh! There's an old song from probably the 60's (I'm not really sure) but it talks about only believing half of what we see and NONE of what we hear. Why NONE, because you could be walking up in the middle of a conversation, hearing one piece of a story, and taking the entire thing out of context and creating a story you feel is true that is completely false!

It angers me and it wears me out. Within the last 2 weeks I have come across friends/aquaintances that have been gossipped about and the stories that have been told are complete fabrications. Most of the time I just tell people to ignore it and go on, but the information this time is damaging to these people's character - and your character is everything. I know that God will take care of the ones that are spreading the lies, rumors, half-truths, etc., but He shouldn't have to! If we will choose to walk in integrity and not listen to the stories around us that aren't any of our business it will save a lot of people a lot of pain and suffering.

So, I challenge any of you reading this, if you've been inclined to gossip, stop and stop now. Often we take casualties down that we aren't even aware of because of things that we choose to let out of our mouths. The bible says the tongue has the power of life and death. I urge you to choose life!