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Crossroads of the Marine Corps

Issues? Time for a Check-up

5 Nov 2015 | LT Robert Bailey, Chaplain - MCAF/HMX-1 Marine Corps Base Quantico

There is an old saying in the south when it comes to sports and measuring someone’s character. It was said that it was time to check the person’s oil. As people, we question people’s character at the drop of a hat. We are quick to judge, but slow to look at ourselves with the same views as we impose on others. The Bible tells us to look at our own flaws before we start pointing our fingers at others.

If the fuel in our vehicles have contaminants and is not clean, then they will not run properly. They may not get as good a gas mileage as before, may skip and not accelerate properly, and may eventually cause damage to our engines. Our hearts and souls are very similar in respect to the engine, thus also being the core that makes everything run within us. If our motives are not pure and clean in our decision process, we can eventually sustain damage to our lives and also have the potential to cause damage to others in the process.

We can all think back to decisions we have made in the past that did not fare to well for us and may have caused harm to others. If we truly look into our motives in the process of our decision making, I am sure that like me, you would find that there were some impurities to be found.

Coaches will tell you that they do not lose a game off of one bad decision, but usually it is a series of small mistakes that lead to a loss. It is no different in life. Our character is attacked at its most vulnerable point. These attacks are in the hopes of weakening our character until it cracks. This is crucial, we must protect our character by utilizing God’s wisdom and by maintaining pure, uncontaminated motives in our decision making process. If we do not, we will succumb to times in our lives when things just do not seem to run right and are not firing on all cylinders.

It is not about our reputation, but about our character. Character is not something you have, it is something you are. When it comes to your character, you are in full control. Nobody can ruin your character. Your character is of your own making, your own choice. Remember: people can only ruin our reputation, but your character can only be ruined by you!

In the word of the great basketball coach, John Wooden, “Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”


Marine Corps Base Quantico