When both my kids were very little (as in newborn), I made a habit of recording things on TV so I could watch them at 3am when I was giving them bottles. It did two things: 1) it kept me awake (mostly). and 2) it deepened my understanding of two radically different genres.
When Lilly was born (my oldest), I had stocked up on Jason Bourne and Captain America...which kept me engaged and gave me some pro-tips on how to evade the CIA. When Mary was born, I stocked up on (and I'm almost ashamed to admit it), Fixer Upper. You know it, right? The show on HGTV with Chip and Joanna Gaines where they take the worst house in the best neighborhood and put in time and boatload of money and it looks incredible?
Well, as I'm watching this show, I started to notice some trends. One - concrete counter tops are pretty cool (but probably not easy to actually make). Two - open concepts are in right now (follow me for more pro design tips). Three - there is almost nothing that more shiplap cannot fix.
Almost nothing.
When we first moved to Tennessee from North Carolina, we spent a fair bit of time looking at houses. We even made a few offers. One of those was a beautiful little farmhouse on 4 acres in Bloomingdale. As only a farm in Bloomingdale could do, it even came with a wonky-eyed chicken. I could not make this up if I tried.
Of course, there were some cosmetic issues with the house...but nothing some fresh paint and shiplap couldn't fix.
As we were preparing to close, the last hurdle was the home inspection. And that's where the bad news came - there were major issues with the foundation. So major, in fact, that we couldn't buy the house. It made the house virtually unlivable.
There was no amount of shiplap and paint that could fix that.
What's fascinating to me is that when we look at houses, our primary concern is (at least initially) cosmetic. I have never known anyone who went looking for houses with their primary goal as, "Ya know, I just really want a solid foundation." We tend to assume that if it looks great on the outside (and even looks great on the inside) that the unseen foundation is solid. But that's not a solid assumption.
And as true as this is with houses, it's perhaps even truer with people. If a politician is charismatic, we say they're a great leader. If an athlete is remarkably talented, we say they're a stellar role model. If a CEO turns a consistent profit, we worship their business acumen. And if a pastor is a great speaker, we say they are God's anointed.
What's the problem you ask? Because we've all seen people like this, men and women who looked the part in the spotlight, but in the dark when no one was watching? We only hear about it after the fact when the scandal breaks. But the whole time they looked beautiful (shiplap and all) there were major issues with the foundation.
Human beings look at appearances and we applaud - beauty, wealth, platform, crowds, success. But the eyes of the Lord are ranging the Earth looking for those whose hearts are good. In other words, we love cosmetics; God loves character.
I once heard this definiton of character and I've never quite been able to drop it: character is who you are in the dark, when nobody's looking. It's formed through a thousand small decisions every day; through trials and hardship and challenges; through consistency and discipline and risky faith.
If your character is compromised, it does not matter how cute your cosmetics are...when the storms of life come, your house will fall down because the foundation is weak. The applications from this point are myriad:
If you want to live a good life, focus more on your character.
If you want to be successful at work, develop your character as much or more than your job competence.
In hiring someone for that position, remember that training character is harder than training a skill.
In dating, look for someone with a solid character more than someone who's cute (sure, if you hate the wallpaper that won't work either. Find a house with a good foundation and a touch of shiplap, ok?)
In marriage, remember that looks will fade but character will be revealed (it's true in houses that stand for a long time too).
In parenting, getting compliance from your kids at all costs will do damage in the long run; training and teaching character will set them on the right path for the rest of their life.
Here's my point, focus on your foundation, on developing your character. As Jesus said, putting his words into practice will build the foundation of your house. Start small and just start doing what he says - let your yes and your no stand and quit justifying yourself; look out for the good of others; keep your eyes open for opportunities to be generous; pray in secret; go the extra mile for people without them asking you...you get the idea.
One more thing...it's never too late start. If you see some cracks in your foundation (it's worth the inspection, deal?), get to work on the repairs now. Those cracks won't go away on their own - I promise. But whatever you do, please don't kid yourself: more shiplap and some new paint ain't gonna fix the foundation issues.
Praying for you today, because I want you to have a healthy house that can stand up through the worst storms,
Steve
PS - This week, we'll be exploring this theme of Character as it's found in Daniel's life over on YouTube. Our latest chapter in our series, Resolutions, Ep. 5: Character, goes live this Sunday morning.
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