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A scorpion, being a very poor swimmer, once asked a turtle to carry him on his back across a river. "Are you mad?" exclaimed the turtle. "You'll sting me while I'm swimming and I'll drown." The scorpion laughed as he replied, "My dear turtle, if I were to sting you, you would drown and I would go down with you. Now, what would be the point of that? I won't sting you. It would mean my own death!"
The turtle thought about the logic of his argument for a few moments and then said, "You're right. Hop on!" The scorpion climbed aboard and halfway across the river, he gave the turtle a mighty sting.
As the turtle began to sink to the bottom of the river with the scorpion on it back, it moaned in dismay, "After your promise, you still stung me! Why did you do that? Now, we're both doomed."
The drowning scorpion sadly replied, "I couldn't help it, It's in my nature to sting."
Study the character of a person before you make them a friend. The stage on which their character plays is going to be your life.
Source: via David Zimmerman in "Baptist Preachers" mailing list
Topics/Tags: Character; Nature; Friendship
Chiseled in a wall of Chester Cathedral, England...
"The Ideal State"
Give me a good digestion Lord,
and something to digest;
Give me a healthy body Lord,
and sense to keep it at its best;
Give me a healthy mind, O Lord,
to keep the good and pure in sight,
which seeing sin, is not appalled,
but finds a way to set it right.
Give me a mind that is not bored,
that does not whimper, whine or sigh;
Don't let me worry overmuch
about that fussy thing called "I";
Give me a sense of humor, Lord -
give me the grace to see a joke,
To get some happiness in life
and pass it on to other folk.
Source: Curtis Stamps, via 'Lection List'
Topics/Tags: Prayer; Discipline; Character
Accept yourself!
When Abraham Lincoln was elected President, a photographer came for an official portrait. It didn't turn out too well. Family and friends all agreed that the unsightly wart on Lincoln's face should be retouched. Lincoln refused!—he would not have a 'dishonest photograph,' he declared. That picture, "warts and all," has become probably the best-known portrait of Lincoln (indeed, of anypresident).
Like Lincoln, we should concentrate on honest character rather than artificial cover-ups.
Source: C.W. Bess, "Proclaim," 1980 #2, p. 37.
"No man should be pitied because every day of his life he faces a hard, stubborn problem. It is the man who has no problems to solve, no hardships to face, who is to be pitied. He has nothing in his life which will strengthen and form his character, nothing to call out his latent powers and deepen and widen his hold on life."
—Booker T. Washington
Source: "Sermons Illustrated"
Many years ago, a boy was born in Russia who thought himself to be so ugly, he was certain there would be no happiness for him in life. He bemoaned the fact that he had a wide nose, thick lips, small gray eyes, and big hands and feet. He was so distraught about his ugliness, he asked God to work a miracle and turn him into a handsome man. He vowed that, if God would do this, he would give Him all he possessed, as well as all he might possess in the future.
That Russian boy was Count Leo Tolstoy, one of the foremost authors of the twentieth century, best known for the epic War and Peace. In one of his books, Tolstoy, admits that through the years he discovered that the beauty of physical appearance he had once sought was not the only beauty in life, nor was it the best beauty. Instead, Tolstoy came to realize that the beauty of a strong character was a higher aspiration.
We spend enormous amounts of time and money keeping up our physical appearances. Are we equally concerned with maintaining a sound character?
Source: God's Little Devotional Book for Men, Honor Books, 1996, p. 23.
Topics/Tags: Beauty; Character; Appearance
It is time to elect a world leader, and your vote counts. Here are the facts about the three leading candidates:
Candidate A…
- Associates with crooked politicians, and consults with astrologers.
- He's had two mistresses and was not discreet about it.
- He also chain smokes and drinks 8 to 10 martinis a day.
Candidate B…
- Was kicked out of office twice,
- sleeps until noon,
- used opium in college,
- and drinks a quart of whiskey every evening.
Candidate C…
- Is a decorated war hero,
- a vegetarian,
- a political conservative,
- doesn't smoke, drinks an occasional beer and hasn't had any extramarital affairs.
Which of these candidates would be your choice? …...
_____________
Candidate A is Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR).
Candidate B is Winston Churchill.
Candidate C is Adolph Hitler.
_____________
The moral of this story? Simply that the human standards by which we often judge our leaders (and all other people, for that matter!) don't always give an accurate measure of a person's true character.
We are reminded of the truth of Isaiah 55:9: "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts…"
Source: unknown
Topics/Tags: Politics; Leadership; Character; Sinfulness
Report from the Pastoral Search Committee:
We do not have a happy report to give. We've not been able to find a suitable candidate for this church, though we have one promising prospect still. We do appreciate all the suggestions from the church members, and we've followed up each one with interviews or calling at least three references. The following is our confidential report on the present candidates...
Adam:
Good man but problems with his wife. Also one reference told of how his wife and he enjoy nude walking in the woods.
Noah:
Former pastorate of 120 years with no converts. Prone to unrealistic building projects.
Abraham:
Though the references reported wife-swapping, the facts seem to show he never slept with another man's wife, but did offer to share his own wife with another man.
Joseph:
A big thinker, but a braggart, believes in dream-interpreting and has a prison record.
Moses:
A modest and meek man, but poor communicator, even stuttering at times. Sometimes blows his stack and acts rashly. Some say he left an earlier church over a murder charge. Also had an interracial marriage
David:
The most promising leader of all until we discovered the affair he had with his neighbor's wife. Also thought to have murdered her husband and used the power of his office to avoid charges.
Solomon:
Great preacher ... but our parsonage would never hold all those wives.
Elijah:
Prone to depression - collapses under pressure.
Elisha:
Reported to have lived with a single widow while at his former church.
Hosea:
A tender and loving pastor but our people could never handle his wife's occupation.
Deborah:
Female.
Jeremiah:
Emotionally unstable, alarmist, negative, always lamenting things, and reported to have taken a long trip to bury his underwear on the bank of a foreign river.
Isaiah:
On the fringe? Claims to have seen angels in church. Has trouble with his language.
Jonah:
Refused God's call into ministry until he was forced to obey by getting swallowed up by a great fish. He told us the fish later spit him out on the shore near here. We hung up.
Amos:
Too backward and unpolished. With some seminary training he might have promise, but has a hang-up against wealthy people -- might fit in better with a poor congregation.
John:
Says he is a Baptist, but definitely doesn't dress like one. Has slept in the outdoors for months on end, has weird diet, and provokes denominational leaders.
Peter:
Too blue collar. Has a bad temper -- even has been known to curse. Had a big run-in with Paul in Antioch. Aggressive, but a loose cannon.
Paul:
Powerful CEO type leader and fascinating preacher. However, short on tact, unforgiving with young ministers, harsh and has been known to preach all night.
Timothy:
Too young.
Jesus:
Has had popular times, but once when his church grew to 5,000 he managed to offend them all and his church dwindled down to 12 people. Seldom stays in one place very long. And of course, he's single.
Judas:
His references are solid. A steady plodder. Conservative. Good connections. Knows how to handle money. We're inviting him to preach his Sunday. Possibilities here!
Source: Barry Davis, in "Pastor's Helper" email discussion list, 2/19/1999.
Topics/Tags: Preaching; Pastor; Leadership; Character
The tests of life are to make, not break us. Trouble may demolish a man's business but build up his character. The blow at the outer man may be the greatest blessing to the inner man. If God, then, puts or permits anything hard in our lives, be sure that the real peril, the real trouble, is that we shall lose if we flinch or rebel.
Maltbie D. Babcock (1858-1901)
There are disasters to be faced by the one who is in real fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. God has never promised to keep us immune from trouble. He says, "I will be with him in trouble," which is a very different thing.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
There are no crown wearers in heaven who were not cross bearers here below.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892)
Source: Edythe Draper, Draper's Book of Quotations for the Christian World (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1992). Entries 214-216
Topics/Tags: Adversity; Trials; Character; God, presence of
To mourn adversity multiplies the misfortune. It is not hypocrisy to rejoice in distress. It is obedience.
—Frances J. Roberts
Tough times never last, but tough people do.
—Robert Harold Schuller (1926- )
Trial is God's alchemy by which the dross is left in the crucible, the baser metals are transmuted, and the character is enriched with gold.
—William Morley Punshon (1824-1881)
Trials are medicines which our gracious and wise physician prescribes because we need them; and he proportions the frequency and weight of them to what the case requires. Let us trust in his skill and thank him for his prescription.
—John Newton (1725-1807)
Source: Edythe Draper, Draper's Book of Quotations for the Christian World (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1992). Entries 221-224
Topics/Tags: Adversity; Perseverance; Trials; Character
There can't be a crisis next week. My schedule is already full.
-- Henry Kissinger
Any idiot can face a crisis--it's this day-to-day living that wears you out.
-- Anton Chekhov
When written in Chinese the word crisis is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity.
-- John F. Kennedy
Man is not imprisoned by habit. Great changes in him can be wrought by crisis--once that crisis can be recognized and understood.
-- Norman Cousins
Source: As quoted in Bob Phillips, Phillips' Book of Great Thoughts & Funny Sayings, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1993), p. 81
Browse By Topic C Character