Dr. Ifeyinwa Nwakwesi
How does one explain the decadence in our society where people are Bible and Quran readers and are always praying.
Character is the true qualities an individual exhibits and reputation is the perceptions and beliefs people have of others.
I think people should be more focused on developing themselves into people that live spirit-filled lives in which case they will be living mostly in the spirit and less in the flesh.
The fruits of the spirit are very evident and include Charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, and chastity.
The fruits of the spirit are time-tested principle-centered values which help to build our Character.
Many people think that character is largely dependent on genetics upbringing and education.
They contribute to moulding people’s behavior and character but they do not determine the final outcome of peoples behavior.
The most important thing that determines who we are and become are the decisions and choices we make in our lives.
Your past does not equal your future.
You can decide to rewrite the history of your life and turn your life into a powerful story of empowering life and character.
Many studies have proven that character is mostly an acquired trait so you can do a self-evaluation and commit to working on any weak areas and gradually turn them into strengths.
I often hear people complain about others and their behavior. The sad thing is that we judge people by their external looks.
Once we see a beautiful and handsome face we assume the person should be a good person.
We now become entangled with interpersonal conflicts because we do not understand the person’s behavior and character.
Your character reflects your inner being not your face. Many people that do not have good character are in inner states of disharmony. They are usually not content, no peace of mind.
They do not love themselves so they can’t give love to someone else. They are mostly agitated so they are very aggressive and often in a fighting mood.
They lack spiritual fulfillment so they are suffering from spiritual emptiness.
They are looking to fill their inner void by making money at all costs sometimes stealing public money, kidnapping, and armed robbery. The quest for filling the inner emptiness leads them to have multiple sexual partners and they are never satisfied so they keep moving from one partner to the other.
Lack of good character is at the root cause of most of our life and societal challenges.
We have leaders that do not have the character of true Leaders. They are not compassionate, empathic, content, happy, peaceful, kind, humble, passionate, and impactful.
You can’t give what you don’t have. An apple cannot give an orange, neither can an orange give an apple.
Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. The character of a person is s reflection of their consistent words and actions.
Every character and behavior have a mindset. Your beliefs, thoughts, feelings, and decisions give rise to your habits.
If you live with negative mindsets most of your actions, behavior and character will not be empowering.
This means that we ought to teach people starting from early childhood how to live true Christian and Muslim lives, be intentional about their mindsets so they dwell more in positive mindsets, and develop positive mental attitudes which will help build a great character that will give them a good reputation if people are being honest with their evaluation of the person.
We need to be careful how we allow ourselves to worry about what people think about us.
The truth is that many people are on battlefields in their lives and they are quick to criticize others and will hardly see any good in others.
Some people are full of envy and they are ready to tear others down.
Be more concerned about building yourself into a determined, committed, focused, hardworking, compassionate, empathic, kind, humble, passionate, and impactful person. Be true to yourself, be content and grateful to your God, your parents, your teachers, your pastors, imams, family friends, associates, and focus on continuous and consistent personal development- adopt the integrative lifestyle and become the masterpiece that God has ordained for you.
Dr. Ifeyinwa Nwakwesi
Integrative Health & Lifestyle specialist
CEO Healthy living services & Moodcalls
President Women Alliance Group / Life Foundation,
Chair Enugwu- Ukwu Daughters Community Development Initiative
