Charisma isn’t bad, but is it more important than character?
As Christians, we’ve heard that while man looks at the outside, God looks at the heart. It is easy to see in our society that a person’s charisma and performance is what often leads to promotion. We promote or glorify certain leaders because of their “charisma” or personality, seemingly counting their character as a less important attribute.
While charisma is valuable and it is important to present ourselves well, God is more concerned about your character than your charisma. Your charisma may give you an advantage so use it – just not at the expense of your character. Character is what keeps you in the game. When all the outer aspects of our lives are stripped away, we are left with our character.
The Bible teaches our promotion does not come from our personality or charisma, but from obedience. Psalm 128:1 says, “Blessed is every one who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways.” Doing God’s word is an aspect of building our character.
Living in obedience requires humility, and this condition of the heart positions us for a promotion. According to Ezekiel 21:26, God desires to exalt the humble and humble the exalted. Our society often promotes those who glorify their own success, God promotes those who humble themselves (James 4:10). While we should execute our daily duties with excellence, the humble heart recognizes in thankfulness the provision of God, not our own hard work, as the source of our success.
Those who follow God’s ways, and honor, respect, and bring glory to God’s name are up for promotion. Ultimately it’s our character that leads to promotion. Character trumps charisma every time.
Some principles on character to remember:
1. Do everything as unto the Lord and not unto man.
2. Live to Honor and Worship an Audience of One.
3. God is more concerned with your character than your charisma.
As a challenge, think about who you tend to promote or idolize in your life. Is it based more on the qualities of charisma or character? Pray, asking God to show you what inner qualities in your own life need to change to help you grow in Christ-like character.
