by Christopher Alan Sweeney

Created on: February 05, 2010   Last Updated: February 12, 2010

The barriers to the development of Christian character are those things that make us less Christ-like in character. Therefore we need to know two things:

What does character mean?

AND

What does it mean to be Christ-like?

First: Character is defined as: the aggregate of features and traits that form the individual and represent the moral and ethical quality of a person. 

There are many quotations that further elucidate the meaning of the word, character, some of which are:

1. Even a child is known by his actions, by whether his conduct is pure and right. (Proverbs 20:11)

2. Character is who I am when no one else is watching. (Rabbi Andrew Strauss)

3. Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny. (Anonymous)

4. We are what we repeatedly do. (Aristotle)

It is clear therefore that character is not the sum of one’s beliefs but rather what one does. As Emerson said: “What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say.” His meaning was very pointed and clear: what you are is not what you think or say but what you do.

Second: We are all familiar with the idea that a Christian is one who follows Christ. But is that a sufficient definition of Christ-like?

If we are talking about developing within ourselves the character of being a Christian then we can’t just blithely follow the teachings of Jesus in some superficial or theoretical sense. That is not sufficient to be described as a Christian in the full sense of the term ‘Christian character’.

To have a Christian character one must incorporate into the daily habits of life those behaviors which are Christ-like.

What were the habits of Jesus Christ? What did He habitually do that gave rise to His character? What must we do to emulate that in our daily lives?

For openers we are given to understand that He was blameless i.e. innocent which could only mean that in His entire life not once did He violate any of the Ten Commandments – not once!

Obviously none of us can lay claim to that kind of perfection in our lives but if we would be Christ-like then we better make a start of it.

Yet even perfection in obedience to the commandments is insufficient. At Mark 10:17 we have the story of a young man who claims to have never violated the commandments. However, even he is found lacking when Jesus reviews

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