Stepping Into Character

Series Overview

In this two-week series, we are going to speak about how someone builds and grows his or her character.  We want to encourage our students to evaluate how strong their character really is and inspired them to strengthen it. We know that the size of our character will always limit our success. But what can we do to build our character? In this series, we want to help them discover practical ways to build their character.

Week 1 (February 17, 2013)

Just like our muscles grow when we exercise, just like we get better at a sport when we practice, just like we get better at playing an instrument when we rehearse – so our “character muscle” grows when we practice doing the right thing. We gain stronger character when we routinely make wise decisions and have right reactions to tough situations. However, any person that has lived through bad relationships, poor job choices, or life-changing regrets will tell you this major difference: Godliness and godly character is way more valuable! It impacts our lives now, and in eternity. However, exercising takes time. You don’t exercise once and have big muscles. It takes time, it takes effort, it hurts when you do it, it is not comfortable, it takes work – but it is worth it.

Talk to your student about how you have grown your own character. Ask your student why our character is so important.

Week 2 (February 24, 2013)

We are encouraging students to make sure that they have friends of good character. We’ve all heard some versions of “Bad company corrupts good character” from our parents, as we rushed out the door with our friends. And. as adults, we know that truth, because we’ve seen it and felt it. However, our middle schoolers are just learning this tough lesson. The good news is that the opposite is also true: If you hang out with the right people, your character will begin to grow. Then, when the time comes for your character to be revealed in a major life decision, it will be stronger and bigger. So, we are also encouraging them to make sure they are “walking with the wise” today in Transit. We will challenge them to identify someone they would call a mentor that they think has good character.

Talk to your student about who you go to for advice. Ask your student who in their life can serve as a mentor.