Men's Ministry Blog: Character- Proverbs 2

Character- Proverbs 2
I was thinking about my elementary school days this weekend. For you spoiled younger folks, this was back in the era when we had to walk up hills both ways, trekking through snow and braving wild animal attacks just to get an education. But back in the simple days a million years ago, in Northeastern Kentucky every elementary school student got a free copy of Jesse Stuart’s “A Penny’s Worth of Character”. It’s a beautiful little story, simple and profound, and like many of Stuart’s works really captures our neck of the woods[1].  The little boy in the story, Shan, has to run to the store for his mother. His favorite treat costs a dime and he can make money by returning old grocery bags to the store for a penny each.  Nine of these are still good, but the tenth has a hole in it, meaning he wouldn’t earn enough from the bags for his preferred snack….unless he hides the damaged bag in the middle of the good ones. Just a powerful tale of a young boy struggling with guilt, desire and the question of who he really is as a person.

 The Oxford Dictionary defines character as “the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual”. The principles that intrinsically define who we are and are often demonstrated by the things we do, what we think about and what we say. For me, it all ties into integrity- who we really are in public AND private. Mentally, then, if we are thinking about “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise”[2] we are demonstrating a “Christian” character. Along the same lines, if the Spirit is dwelling in us and an essential part of who we are, we will expect to see the fruits of that in our day-to-day lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control[3]. This week I was in the section of Wilson’s commentary on Proverbs 2 where it discusses character and I kept coming back to something from Sunday’s sermon. Pastor Ben was talking about Proverbs 6 and John 14 and how lying goes against God’s very nature. How when we engage in deceitful talk we reflect poorly on God as His representatives here on earth. But mainly I was thinking about the promises that come with having the right kind of character. When we recognize that true wisdom can only come from God, and we strive each day[4] to follow the example of Jesus to shape our character, Scripture tells us we build a hedge around our lives. As Wilson describes it, “the character that comes from being formed by wisdom is the means by which God protects or guards people committed to Him…God preserves people through transforming their character as they pursue wisdom linked with the fear of God.”[5] I suspect I am not the only person who suffers from what can best be described as “self-inflicted wounds”.  When I look at my life, and at times I’ve been at my lowest points, oftentimes I’m sitting in a hole a dug myself.  While it isn’t always the case, we can often finds ourselves suffering because of terrible decisions we’ve made, stupid things we’ve said, or ungodly things we’ve thought. Seeking God’s wisdom isn’t just an intellectual exercise. It is a daily, transformational process that guides what we think/say/do and makes our lives BETTER. When we go to the source of real wisdom, and we ask the Spirit to ingrain it in everything we do, we protect ourselves from many of the problems we might otherwise create. That is an incredible promise and should be a really strong motivation to not only apply what we are learning in Proverbs to our lives, but to spend as much time as possible in God’s Word.

 If you were in church last Sunday, you’ll know that the sermon was really powerful. We had an awesome service and that was followed up by our Worthy conference, great kids church, and an outing for our jr/sr high boys. Just a lot of really amazing things going on and I’ve just been feeling like God is doing some incredible things at FCC Grayson. Really hoping you will join us and see for yourself. One the men’s ministry side, our Spring service project is coming up on April 5th and we are hoping to take a good sized group to HMCA. Please let us know if you can attend and ask us if you have any questions. Have a great week. – FCC Grayson Men’s Ministry

   [1] If you don’t know Jesse Stuart, please take some time to read some of his works. A native of Greenup County, he is arguably Kentucky’s most famous author. The Thread that Runs So True, Taps for Private Tussie, “Split Cherry Tree” and even his poetry Man with the Bull-Tongue Plow. You can still go to W Hollow and hike the land he donated to the state of Kentucky in the Jesse Stuart Natural Preserve.
   [2] Phil 4.8
   [3] Gal 5.22&23
   [4] Cf the active pursuit of wisdom described in Prov 2.1-5
   [5] Lindsay Wilson, Proverbs, TOTC p 75