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What Is Character

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Submitted By llhill22
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Wright tells us that the New Testament will teach us “how to be human in a particular way”. It will help build our “moral judgment and form our character”. Wright says this transformation of character is called virtue (Wright, p. 18). To become a great leader we need to work on ourselves before we start to work on others. If we do not understand what we stand for then it will be hard to stand up for our principals. The more we practice the better we become at something and the transformation of Christian character takes a lifetime. Everything that we go through helps develop our character and beliefs. Everything that we go through in life challenges us to make choices. “You can no more force character on someone than you can force a tree to produce fruit when it isn’t ready to do so” (Wright, p. 35). Character comes from practicing over and over again so that when you are faced with a challenge you do not have to stop and think about it, you take action because what you have practiced has become second nature. Building our Christian character is not just about what we do in today’s world, it is about preparing us for the new world God has promised us. Once we have accepted Christ as our savior and realized he has died for our sins, we need to continue on and build a bridge to the other side of the bank. Building this bridge allows our faith, hope and love to transforms us as humans and becomes second nature.
Aristotle believed “there were four principal virtues: courage, justice, prudence, and temperance” (Wright, p.34). Aristotle focuses on the individual and how they can become virtuous in their own right where Wright believes that it is not just about the individual. While Aristotle based virtue solely on the individuals efforts Wright states “Christian virtue isn’t about you – your happiness, your fulfillment, your self-realization. It is about God

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