Character
Scripture Reading — James 1:1-8
God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness.”
Tiger Woods might be the most famous golfer today. He stands out because he was a gifted winner of competitions for many years. But Tiger Woods’s life fell apart because of various indiscretions. His success in public did not match his failures at home.
As imagebearers of God, we are designed to be people of integrity and character. A person of integrity is one who does right in all areas of life, one who can be trusted. If people compromise in one area, they cannot be trusted in others.
As we look at God’s image and see his character, we find that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). In Malachi 3:6 the Lord says, “I . . . do not change.” He is completely stable and trustworthy. We can trust God because he is faithful and true to his character. As a result of his integrity, “The name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe” (Proverbs 18:10).
God expects us, his imagebearers, to be people of integrity. James speaks of people who are double-minded and unstable in all they do. He says they are “like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.” If we lack character in one area of our life, it will affect the other areas of our life. But by Christ’s Spirit, we can find the strength to live as God desires us to live.
Father, thank you for making us in your image. Help us to live in a way that always reflects your character and honors you. In Jesus, Amen.
About the author — John Kuperus
Since he was young, John Kuperus has had a passion that everyone would know Jesus. Spreading the good news that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15) is very important to him. To be better equipped for missions, John attended Reformed Bible College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He applied these skills with marketplace evangelism in a business he started in Sussex, New Jersey. This calling continued to follow him, so John attended seminary and became a minister in the Christian Reformed Church, serving a church in Ontario for eight years. Currently he serves as a missionary for Youth with a Mission (YWAM). He witnesses Jesus changing lives as people walk out of the darkness into the light. John is married to Helen, and they have seven children.
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