Character is Doing the Right Thing

Day 256 of Photo Inspirations -- Character is Doing the Right Thing

When I was just a little girl, my Mom and I were at the grocery store and I saw a wrapped candy bar on the floor at the cashier’s check-out stand.  I snuck it into my pocket.  I figured “Finders Keepers”! But as we walked out of the store, my Mom saw my hidden “stash”, and she turned me around and marched me back into the store to admit the error of my ways.  That day I learned such a valuable lesson in honesty and it has stuck with me to this day – so much so, that if the cashier gives me too much change back, I’ll quickly let her know.

And then, there’s the grocery cart dilemma.  Do I go ALL THE WAY to the grocery cart corral and put my grocery cart where it belongs, or do I just slip it in-between some cars or on a curb?   If I wasn’t parked close to the corral, that’s what I would do.  But then the day came when I was walking away from leaving my grocery cart in one of those care-less locations, and when I turned to walk away, I saw it rolling quickly toward a car.  Thankfully, I recovered it before it hit.  That day I learned the values of integrity and character.

J.C. Watts, former politician, said, “Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. There are too many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by, and the only thing that's wrong is to get caught”.  And that is so very true.  Character is the one thing no one can take from us. It is what we hold dear to us.  It is a non-negotiable core value.

Some folks pay little attention to doing the “right thing”.  They tell their kids to tell a caller “I’m NOT home.”  It’s okay for a little white lie here and there.  It’s okay to put something they’ve changed their mind about in another location in a store (i.e., a head of lettuce in the laundry detergent aisle).  It’s okay to “fudge” on their income taxes.  It’s okay to take office supplies home from their place of employment.  They rationalize that they’re not getting paid what they deserve anyway.

Never has it been clearer to me, that character should take the highest priority when it comes to being trustworthy and credible to our children, our peers, our neighbors, our constituents……but most of all….to God.  He has a front row seat in our lives. Our actions DO speak louder than words.  It makes Dad so proud of His kids when He sees them “doing the right thing when no one is looking."

Fact is – DAD is ALWAYS looking.  And even if there were no consequences, no laws, no fear of any reprisals for our actions, when we do the RIGHT THING in any situation, I expect that He beams from ear to ear with pride and joy about His kids!

Proverbs 20:7 “The one who lives with integrity is righteous; his children who come after him will be happy.”

Character is Doing the Right Thing -- When No One is Looking

Character is doing the RIGHT THING – when no one is looking. You know – putting the grocery cart in the stall instead of just leaving it in a parking space, or putting the lettuce back in the produce department instead of conveniently slipping it in the laundry detergent department. Our logic says “After all, those store clerks are paid to put stuff back where it belongs”. Or, how about the extra change that we received from the cashier and telling her she overpaid you? Or, how about the items in our grocery cart that we weren’t charged for, and taking the time to go back into the store to pay for them?

What are the life rules that we play by? The ones that are just obvious because “they’re the rules”, or, though inconvenienced, the ones that are simply just the right thing to do? I think about our kids and grandkids that watch our every move and, quite frankly, they pay more attention to what we do rather than what we say. When we, on purpose, are people of honor, integrity, character, sportsmanship, appreciation, and courtesy, we are demonstrating the lessons of life, and quite frankly, rules won’t even be necessary. As I’m typing this, I’m thinking about a Sunday School song that I sang as a kid. If we lived our lives with these words, and with the "What Would Jesus Do?" (WWJD) state of mind and state of actions……we would be known by others, and God, as men and women of great character.

O be careful little eyes what you see
There's a Father up above, and He's looking down in love
So, be careful little eyes what you see

And, replace the first line above with these:

O be careful little ears what you hear.......
O be careful little hands what you do.......
O be careful little feet where you go........
O be careful little mouth what you say....