Building A Character House
I had never heard Mother’s voice like that, and I had never heard her call Father “Charles.” I thought my heart would pound itself to pieces while she was telling him what I had done. Hard as Father could spank, he never hurt me so much with a stick as he did when Mother stopped talking. He cleared his throat, and then he didn’t make a sound for at least two full minutes.
When he spoke, his voice was deep and dry, and I knew he must have been coughing a lot on the way home. “Son, there is no question but what the thing you have done today deserves severe punishment. You might have killed yourself or the horse, but much worse than that, you have injured your own character. A man’s character is like his house. If he tears boards off his house and burns them to keep himself warm and comfortable, his house soon becomes a ruin. A man with a ruined character is a shame on the face of the earth.”
As I read that excerpt, I can’t help but thinking that we are building today the character houses we’ll live in tomorrow; that what each of us will become later in life largely depends on what we are now. J.C. Ryle (1816-1900) wrote in his book, Thoughts For Young Men, “Youth is the seed-time of full age, the molding season in the little space of human life, the turning-point in the history of man’s mind.” Are we taking that seriously?
We must understand that there’s a tsunami of “advances” coming that will profoundly damage all but the sturdiest character houses. We’ve got to be working now so that when the wave comes, we’re ready for it. Robert Freeman once said, “Character is not made in a crisis—it is only exhibited.” The crisis is coming, what we need to ask ourselves is, “What kind of character will this crisis reveal? Am I strong enough to resist sin? Am I consistent in saying no to temptation? Or do I only get by when there is nothing there to tempt me?”
Remember, the time is coming where it will become more and more difficult to avoid sin and more and more necessary to develop the strength of character to resist it, fight it, and conquer it.
The landscape is changing rapidly. We must turn to God and plead with Him to grant us the grace to strengthen our character now, before it’s too late. What would you think of a soldier who decided to learn to operate his AK-47 on the battlefield? Or of the parents that wanted to teach their baby to walk on a tightrope? You’d think they were crazy, right? But are you hoping to do something equally extraordinary by putting off the development of your character until you’re in the middle of the storm?
It is now that we must become acquainted with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is now that we must make the Bible our intimate guide and adviser. It is now that we must get a clear picture of the evil of sin. If we don’t get serious about these things today it won’t happen. Do not underestimate the power of habit—especially the habits of youth.
J.C. Ryle put it well when he said, “Habits are like stones rolling downhill, the further they roll, the faster and more uncontrollable is their course. Habits, like trees, are strengthened by age. A boy may bend an oak, when it is a sapling. A hundred men cannot root it up, when it is a full-grown tree.”
The prophet Jeremiah made the same point when he asked, “Can the Ethopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may you also do good, who are accustomed to do evil.”
If you can get anything out of this post, please, come away believing that you will become what you are and that you will live in the character house you build today. It will never be easier to serve God than it is right now.
Originally posted August 17th, 2005
October 16th, 2006 at 4:27 pm
First, I hope all your readers get a chance to read “Little Britches” and the others in the series. They’re great.
Second, I don’t know if the absence of replies under this post has anything to do with how lightly most of us view this topic, but speaking for myself, I could definitely use a little more emphasis on it. Every minute counts. You can’t say, I’ll give in now but, after that I’ll do better.
It doesn’t work.
December 7th, 2006 at 1:07 pm
Wow
January 24th, 2007 at 9:53 pm
That’s a great analogy! I am slowly learning how to confront sin and defeat it… it is totally hard but with the grace and help of God it can be done! Thanks for the post!
February 28th, 2007 at 2:45 pm
Can you tell me how to go about building my character house?
April 18th, 2007 at 8:41 pm
I’ve learned something from this article! Would it be ok to publish this in our church publication, so a lot of people might be able to read this?
April 18th, 2007 at 8:47 pm
Heph: You are more than welcome to publish our articles in your church publication provided that (1) the article is not altered in any way, (2) you properly attribute the article to Alex and me, and (3) you provide a link to the website (www.therebelution.com). Thanks for asking!
April 18th, 2007 at 8:50 pm
Heide: I’m sorry for the delay in seeing your question! Meditating on God’s Word is the very best way to go about building our character houses. I’d suggest you start with Psalm 119 which makes the argument for how treasuring God’s Word in our hearts is the key to defeating sin and growing closer to God. =)
June 12th, 2007 at 9:07 pm
From what I understand, it is the discision to put off fighting for our character that is leaving so many Christians weak and helpless.
July 3rd, 2007 at 3:04 pm
[...] The Rebelution is made up of three fundamental parts. We’ve talked about two of them: character and competence. The third one is collaboration. It’s not enough for us to be individual exceptions. It’s not enough for us to try to ignore the culture. We have to create a counter-culture. The way we do that is by networking, exhorting, and encouraging one another in the fight. By God’s grace, that’s what The Rebelution has become. And when you have a community of young people mutually committed to doing hard things in their teen years for the glory of God, that’s an incredibly powerful thing. [...]
October 26th, 2007 at 7:28 am
I love function about videos what are viiewing currently, youtube is improving well, but i have little request: is it possible to make videos opened i new tab, auto-paused? Because its annoying when you want watch many videos, and you have to pause all of them manually to make them load… please!
February 2nd, 2008 at 5:52 pm
“A man’s character is like his house. If he tears boards off his house and burns them to keep himself warm and comfortable, his house soon becomes a ruin. A man with a ruined character is a shame on the face of the earth.”
Great quote!
“It will never be easier to serve God than it is right now.”
“We must understand that there’s a tsunami of “advances” coming that will profoundly damage all but the sturdiest character houses.”
“It is now that we must become acquainted with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
My mom made an interesting point the other day when I was talking to her about the state of many Christian leaders in America. She said, “What if they started banning the Bible in the United States? They wouldn’t be ready. They’d have no idea what to do.”
Many of us think that we can understand God or His Ways, but haven’t sought Him through the Bible — the Gospels, especially — and sought Him personally diligently enough to allow ourselves the opportunity to actually know Him. We haven’t found Him in a way that we know His Character and His Will and we haven’t encountered Him in a way that His laws are written on our hearts.
We have been blessed with the chances to seek Him that we have now. But like my mom said, what if the Bible became banned in our nation like it is in other nations? Would we know God enough to still follow Him? Would we have been prepared through His Word and through time spent alone with Him for persecution, prison sentences, and outright hatred in times and places where we would not have the gift of a Bible within easy reach? Would we know Him well enough to recognize His Voice when He guides us as He promised His own would (John 10:27)? Have we come to know Him through His Word so that we would — so that that verse is true of us? And do we really know Him through His Word — have we become reliant on Him? Or have we become reliant on using His words as we wish without the Guidance of the Holy Spirit leading us into the Truth of them and to Truth Himself?
Do we use Scripture as a “crutch” to get by, continuing as we are, or do we use it meet God in a way that we will be dead to flesh and sin, transformed and unable to continue without His Resurrection — His Power within and through us? Do we quote Scripture to press our beliefs or do we know the Author and seek to know the real meaning of His Words? If we only use the words and do not know the Word Himself (John 1:1-4) we will fall at the first storm because we will lack His Character imparted to us through knowing Him. We will be as a house not finished — the weather will soak us, the wind will topple us, and we will be a wreck.
“Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your earnings for what does not satisfy? Hearken diligently to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness [the profuseness of spiritual joy].
Incline your ear [submit and consent to the divine will] and come to Me; hear, and your soul will revive; and I will make an everlasting covenant or league with you, even the sure mercy (kindness, goodwill, and compassion) promised to David.”
Isaiah 55:2-3 (Amplified version)
Seek, inquire for, and require the Lord while He may be found [claiming Him by necessity and by right]; call upon Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and He will have love, pity, and mercy for him, and to our God, for He will multiply to him His abundant pardon.
For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
Isaiah 55:6-9
April 13th, 2008 at 5:54 am
I am in spirit battle with complacency in our church. I am so tired of “we have always done it the way” or “We’ve never done it that way before.” What has worked in the past 16 years doesn’t work now, but the attempts to break out of the norm are met with heavy contreversy. I covet your prayers because I am not as young as you two young men. I’m not sure I have the energy or spiritual strength to keep on the cutting edge. Thank you for your inspiration.
Is. 40:31
July 10th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
[...] The Rebelution is made up of three fundamental parts. We’ve talked about character and competence. The third is collaboration. It’s not enough for us to be individual exceptions. We have to create a counterculture. We do that is by networking and encouraging one another in our common cause. That’s what the Rebelution has become. When you have a community of young people committed to doing hard things for the glory of God and the good of others, that’s an incredibly powerful thing. [...]
July 24th, 2008 at 6:19 pm
This article was really great. Character is a huge deal! One thing that I think a lot of us don’t realize is how often people are watching us. If our “house” is solidly built, especially when the storms and trials come, other people can see Christ through us. What an amazing opportunity to share Christ! Even in everyday life, your character peeks through little holes; difficulties that we have. We can be a witness even to our own family. And beyond all that, we can honor God with what we do and say and think if our character house is firmly grounded in Him.
October 14th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
Oh my, I love Little Britches! Such a good book (and series). I remember that particular excerpt from when my mom read it out loud to us for school. She really liked that analogy, and as I get older I like it more and more too.
January 17th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
I love that book. Great analogy also.
April 24th, 2009 at 7:39 am
Wow, I never thought about character as much as I did after I read this. I think it’s really admirable how you guys are so faithful and help others become faithful to God too. I’m going to keep this with me so I can always remeber to improve my character. Thanks for posting this.