Character, not circumstance, makes the person

I currently teach a 10th grade Sunday School (bible fellowship) class and we are delving into lessons related character.    This past Sunday, we talked about Noah and the Flood.    The lesson really struck a chord with me this week.   We tend to think that Noah’s obedience and character were exercised once he started building the boat or when the floods started.  I know when telling this story, I like to begin with “God told Noah to build an ark….”, but in truth Noah’s character was defined long before the first cypress tree was cut down!!!   If you read Genesis 6: 5-22  you’ll see that God was grieved with everyone in the world except Noah and his family.   Basically the whole population of the earth were thinking and doing one thing and Noah and his family were headed in the opposite direction.  Talk about building character.   I imagine, the everyday choices they made were not the "popular" decision.   I’m sure many times they ended a conversation with….  it’s the right thing to do.   I don’t know that I’d have the strength or the willpower…but then again…..I haven’t heard God telling me to build a boat.  LOL.

The quote in the title is so true. "Character, not circumstance, makes the person.".   We are faced every day with little and big decisions.   Lots of times we think it’s circumstances that shape who we are, but it’s the choices we make while in the circumstance, that shape us.   In Noah’s life the entire world was making the wrong decisions, the peer pressure alone must have been enormous, but Noah was righteous and blameless.   He practiced making the right choices.  He built character in small and big decisions.   I’m not sure what the students took away from the lesson this week…but I took away a lifestyle of character.   WOW!!!