Made of Character (Inner Armor)

Introduction

What did we talk about in our first session? - In the first session we talked about how inner armor comes from knowing your identity and being who God created you to be.

What did we talk about in our second session? - Secondly we talked about how knowing God and who he made us to be empowers us.

In this session we’re going to discuss one more super important part of inner armor…and that is Character

Character Challenge

Give Example (my Dad)

Faith (went to Africa)

Invested time with me

Integrity

Think of a great leader you know. It can be someone you know personally or it could be someone who is well known for their leadership.

Compile a list of the characteristics you respect about that person. The list should focus on the person’s character qualities (i.e. compassion, integrity, etc..)

Have them call out leaders first

Then call out qualities they have listed

Main Body

Main Body

Look at this list...

These are all qualities that we admire in others, especially those who are leaders and those who we look up to.

It is one thing to admire seeing these qualities in others, and another thing to possess these character qualities ourselves

If we are going to be impactful Christians and leaders in our generation, we have to have character that reflects God!

Character Requires Heart

Our character is a reflection of our heart. If we have a heart focused on God it will show in our character. How we treat others, the words coming out of our mouths, and our willingness to obey God doesn’t start in our heads: it begins in our hearts.

We have been talking about David, but lets backtrack a little bit to before David ever fought Goliath.

Explain who Samuel is

God told Samuel that King Saul was rejected and that he should anoint a new king.

God tells him to go make a sacrifice to the Lord and to invite a man named Jesse and his sons to the offering

Read

Vs. 6 - He saw Eliab and thought this has to be the man.

Vs. 7 - Man can tend to look on the appearance of man, but God looks on the heart.

God is more concerned with with what you look like in your heart, and not so much what you look like on the outside

Explain who Samuel is

Notice that David wasn’t even invited at first the ceremony

They didn’t even consider him because he was the youngest of Jesse’s 8 sons…he was just the shepherd boy

I want to point out something important here…age is not a hindrance to character.

David 16, Samuel 12-13, Mary was 13,

Fabulous life of a teenager Part 4 (movie clip)

Development of character doesn’t start when you graduate high school or college…it starts now.

Our character is a reflection of our heart. If we have a heart focused on God it will show in our character. How we treat others, the words coming out of our mouths, and our willingness to obey God doesn’t start in our heads: it begins in our hearts.

Character Requires Hard Work

Training Day

Read Samuel 17:32-36

David wasn’t going up against Goliath with not experience at all…he was probably well practiced with his sling

David also didn’t just choose to believe God and be courageous in the moment he faced Goliath, he had a track record of belief and courage before he even faced the giant

Integrity, courage, faith, love, patience, and obedience starts now. If you wait to develop these things until later when they are really tested you will never stand

Game Day

David wasn’t a shepherd who planned on fighting Goliath one day, but he was ready when that day came because of how he trained.

Character Requires Action

Read ;

Because of his devotion, David can’t stand what is going on. David’s character demanded he take action.

Recap yesterday and the voices that David heard

When our character has its foundation in Christ, it demands action from us.

We are all going to face moments when we need to take action

Gossip

Stealing

Drugs

Disobedience

What is your character like?

Do character assessment (don’t do peer review)

How can you grow in the character trait where you need the most improvement?

accountability

mentor

put yourself in positions where you need to exercise that trait

Fruit of the Spirit - Galatians 5:22,23