Character

From the depth of the heart springs life. That life is filled with qualities of character. Noah Webster, in 1828, defined character as a noun and as a verb:

MOTIVATED BY LOVE

They honor others and their Christian walk yet they will make no compromise with wrong even if it means losing position or popularity.
John 13:24
(NASB)
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
(The Message)
Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are My disciples—when they see the love you have for each other.

PURPOSEFUL

They pursue a purposeful existence with a clear desire to honor God at all times and in all things.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
(NASB)
Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!
You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.
You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.
You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.
You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
(The Message)
Attention, Israel!
God, our God! God the one and only!
Love God, your God, with your whole heart: love him with all that’s in you, love him with all you’ve got!
Write these commandments that I’ve given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder; inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates.

HONEST

They are as honest in small things as in great things and their word is their bond.
Job 27:3-5
(NASB)
For as long as life is in me, And the breath of God is in my nostrils, My lips certainly will not speak unjustly, Nor will my tongue mutter deceit. Far be it from me that I should declare you right; Till I die I will not put away my integrity from me.
(The Message)
...for as long as I draw breath, and for as long as God breathes life into me, I refuse to say one word that isn’t true. I refuse to confess to any charge that's false. There is no way I'll ever agree to your accusations.  I’ll not deny my integrity even if it costs me my life. I’m holding fast to my integrity and not loosening my grip — and, believe me, I’ll never regret it.

RESPECTFUL

They respect others by serving with a quiet and determined strength that is lived out through a brokenness before God.
Matthew 5:3
(NASB)
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
(The Message)
You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and His rule.

DISCIPLINED

The have the discipline to self-manage.
Hebrews 5:12-14
(NASB)
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice, have their senses trained to discern good and evil.
(The Message)
I have a lot more to say about this, but it is hard to get it across to you since you’ve picked up this bad habit of not listening. By this time you ought to be teachers yourselves, yet here I find you need someone to sit down with you and go over the basics on God again, starting from square one — baby’s milk, when you should have been on solid food long ago! Milk is for beginners, inexperienced in God’s ways; solid food is for the mature, who have some practice in telling right from wrong.

SACRIFICIAL

They hold an unquestionable willingness to forfeit personal gain in pursuit or defense of Judeo-Christian values.
Romans 12:1-2
(NASB)
Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
(The Message)
So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life — and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what He wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

LOYAL

They are true to friends and family in adversity as well as in prosperity.
Job 2:3
(NASB)
The LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away from evil. And he still holds fast his integrity, although you incited Me against him to ruin him without cause.”
(The Message)
God said to Satan, “Have you noticed my friend Job? There’s no one quite like him, is there—honest and true to his word, totally devoted to God and hating evil? He still has a firm grip on his integrity! You tried to trick Me into destroying him, but it didn’t work.”

TEACHABLE

They have the willingness to learn and the diligence to teach others.
Deuteronomy 4:8-9
(NASB)
What great nation is there that has statutes and judgments as righteous as this whole law which I am setting before you today? Only give heed to yourself and keep your soul diligently, so that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen and they do not depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your sons and your grandsons.
(The Message)
What other great nation has gods that are intimate with them the way God, our God, is with us, always ready to listen to us? And what other great nation has rules and regulations as good and fair as this Revelation that I’m setting before you today? Just make sure you stay alert. Keep close watch over yourselves. Don’t forget anything of what you’ve seen. Don’t let your heart wander off. Stay vigilant as long as you live. Teach what you’ve seen and heard to your children and grandchildren.

SPIRIT-FILLED

They are emptied of self-focus and filled with the Spirit of God.
Titus 2:11-12
(NASB)
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age…
(The Message)
God’s readiness to give and forgive is now public. Salvation’s available for everyone! We’re being shown how to turn our backs on a godless, indulgent life, and how to take on a God-filled, God-honoring life. This new life is starting right now, and is whetting our appetites for the glorious day when our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, appears. He offered Himself as a sacrifice to free us from a dark, rebellious life into this good, pure life, making us a people He can be proud of, energetic in goodness.

Romans 8:12-13
(NASB)
So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh — for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
(The Message)
So don’t you see that we don’t owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent. There’s nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life. God’s Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go!

CHARACTER, n. 1. A mark made by cutting or engraving, as on stone ... used to form words, and communicate ideas. 2. A mark or figure made by stamping or impression ... 4. The peculiar qualities, impressed by nature or habit on a person, which distinguish him from others; these constitute real character, and the qualities, which he is supposed to possess, constitute his estimated character, or reputation. Hence we say, a character is not formed, when the person has not acquired stable and distinctive qualities.

CHARACTER, v. 1. To engrave; to inscribe.

Christians, through a life of intimate prayer, allow God to character, or engrave, His attributes into their hearts and then in turn, they are to influence their neighbor, whoever that may be. This is leadership.