Your experiences in life demonstrate who you are

Character is not as hidden as people think or wish. Life is designed to reveal truth, whether we like it or not. Though this world is complex enough to provide frequent opportunities to hide who we really are from ourselves and others, we cannot forever withhold our true selves.

All things constantly emit clues about their true nature through how they are through time and across circumstances. Truth, by its very nature, is self-revealing. Alethia, the word for truth in Greek, literally means “what can’t remain hidden.” A thing cannot help but demonstrate how it is throughout its very existence.

The gift God provides us of choosing to improve ourselves also allows us to choose to ignore the signals that suggest we need to. Most people have no idea who they really are because they strongly resist the many signs their interactions with life give to that end. They cleverly ignore many of the products of their hearts and minds that indicate a need for improvement. They don’t want to know what they are really like, because they already know they aren’t how they wish they were. These are long standing human tendencies. Jesus pointed them out to the people during his earthly ministry. They were clearly capable of critically examining the clues around them, yet conveniently ignored the signs that contradicted what they wanted to believe:

54 And he said also to the people, When ye see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it is.
55 And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat; and it cometh to pass.
56 Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time? (Luke 12)

We have an ingrained resistance to all information that suggests we are less than how we wish we were,¹ and we need to learn to overcome this in order to attain our potential. Every restriction we place on our willingness to see or make potential improvements will limit the extent to which we can achieve our potential.

Life has a way of showing us a lot more about ourselves than we presently see if we will just be more honest about it. Many people today waste untold amounts of time, money, and other resources on retreats, therapy, and many other approaches to discovering what life is already abundantly showing them, and then are surprised when they still can’t find what they claim to be looking for. No amount of external help will overcome an unwillingness to see yourself as you really are.

Each character trait has certain situations where it is most evident, just as a gemstone has a certain cut that best reveals its features. It is in these demonstrative situations that we come to know people for who they really are. For example, David’s kingly courage was present long before his kingly position. As a shepherd, he bravely defended his father’s flock from a bear and a lion, even though no one was there to witness the feat. David’s kingly qualities were only widely noticed once he became an actual king.

Short of the ideal situation, a character trait will still find a way to be expressed, albeit to a lesser or more hidden degree. While a person’s true character is hidden, people constantly emit clues about their qualities:

24 Some men’s sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after.
25 Likewise also the good works of some are manifest beforehand; and they that are otherwise cannot be hid. (1 Timothy 5)

Because a thing must be what it is, the true nature of a person can remain masked only so long. By definition, the truth will be revealed. Like dammed water, a person’s true character will find or create a way out through any tiny hole or crack, finding its way into expression in whatever way available.

Often, the public demonstration of our private choices and attitudes is anything but subtle. Expressions of character are like tracer rounds in a machine gun, which draw a glowing line that connects the barrel to the target. The events and outcomes of life will manifest who you really are, no matter what you may think of yourself.

Because your inward qualities and secret desires will shine openly in your life across time and circumstance, it is worth whatever sacrifice required to discover and improve them.