Character Accountability, By Roger Behra

SHORT COMMUNICATION 238

Character Accountability

By

Roger Behra

No one can deny the fact that character development is a dominant part of a person’s life. Character counts a great deal and has such an impact on the direction a person’s life takes. It does not take much for good character to turn in another direction in modern cultures because of all the temptations that exist on a daily basis. It takes very strong character to stay on the good and narrow path, and millions of people fail that character test. When, only 35% of people in America alone practice Christian living, which is the basis for good character development. And it is quit evident throughout America’s greatly declined culture.

Character is considered the qualities that make a person different from another. The qualities are moral strength, honesty, and integrity. So many temptations keep nibbling away at these qualities. Character can take a wrong turn very easily. The following story proves the point and tells how it can have a very undesirable ending.

A man worked as a carpenter for the same company for fifty years. One day he told the company owner he was retiring. The owner gave the carpenter a thank you card, a small bonus, and a final request-build the owner a new house. The carpenter was angry at the small bonus check after so many years of dedicated work, but he decided to build the house, and he did. But the carpenter decided also to get even as he built it, because the owner left all the decisions up to him.

The carpenter ordered and used cheap and inferior parts. He built a small house and overlooked shoddy workmanship. The house looked new, but it was not very attractive in a less than ideally desirable location. But the owner’s wish was completed. The owner had a house built.

When the company owner was notified, he gave carpenter another thank you card and THE DEED TO THE HOUSE! The carpenter was flabbergasted! He was now the owner of the small, poorly built, and unattractive house in a less than ideal location. He was the owner of a house that he probably could not sell and with the obligations of an owner. It was an unpredictable turn of events with very sad results.

Some lessons can be learned by everyone from this story. The company owner was practicing good character with his generosity and good intentions. Those were good results. The carpenter’s get even attitude changed his character to a bad one, and it had bad results. Character counts and all the possibilities should be considered beforehand, both good and bad.

R. B.
2-26-11