Description: In this class character will be highlighted. The etymology of character is quite telling. The word comes from the Greek kharakter for “engraved mark,” “symbol or imprint on the soul,” and “instrument for marking,” and can be traced further back to the words for “to engrave,” “pointed stake,” and “to scrape and scratch.” Anciently, a character was the stamp or marking impressed into wax or clay. In the 17th century, the word came to be associated with “the sum of qualities that defines a person.” These qualities include a person’s intellect, thoughts, ideas, motives, intentions, temperament, judgment, behavior, imagination, perception, emotions, loves, and hates. All of these components contribute to the shaping and coloring of a Christian’s character. The balance of these components within the life of each person, and the way one or another predominates over others, is what makes their character strong or weak. Personal character is defined in how your habits, motives, thoughts, and so on relate to morality, particularly as it concerns your integrity. Character could be defined as “your moral self,” the “crown of a moral life,” and referred to as a “moral structure,” or something you built for God through virtuous behavior.
