Personality, Character and Environment
with Discussions on Truth, Absolutes, Responsibilities, Morals and Ethics
Introduction
What are personality and character? How does environment affect them? How do they affect one’s environment?
Personality
Likes, dislikes, predispositions toward certain activities, forms of work, abilities, inabilities, ways of thinking, the sum of all things that gives uniqueness to any creature—these things all come under personality. Some of them sound like character, however. I will propose a distinction.
First, I will propose that personality is created—that it isn’t adjustable. It is built into a creature far before birth. Now, since I am writing from the perspective of one who believes the Bible, this isn’t unreasonable for me to propose. If a reader of this document finds such creation an outrage, I will propose that personality isn’t adjustable throughout the life of a creature. Some of its expressions will remain hidden for various periods of time, perhaps to the point of death, but personality cannot be changed.
If this is true, the personality of a two-week-old fetus is the same personality that will be seen at age 98 (if the person lives that long and isn’t comatose).
Tastes change. A child may find green beans disgusting, and the same person at age 40 may love green beans. That isn’t a change in personality, however. Liking green beans is a trait that was hidden in the young child but was uncovered by the child at a later age, having newly discovered tastes with which to discover green beans. A chemical change in the brain can make a change in tastes, but that isn’t a personality change any more than smells of foods that a person used to like now make the person sick. The personality remained the same; how the brain handled stimuli from the taste buds and smell receptors changed with new experiences.
Since I have already proposed a creation of personality, I will advance one more step: Yehovah, the God of Israel, whom I claim to be the Creator described in the Bible, is the creator of every personality in every living creature (including plants and microorganisms). Suppose with me that this is the case as I continue.
Every personality, then, is perfectly designed. No personality is flawed. Every personality has the ability to be beneficial and productive in life if the personality is given time. (One who is killed or dies in the womb wasn’t given time to demonstrate this.)
Some personalities are drawn toward numbers. Others are not, but are drawn to art. Some are drawn to strategic thinking (like great chess players) while others are drawn to music. Some love colors or design; others love counting and memorizing gravestones. Yet, every personality has an ability that is a specialty to that person holding the personality.
Those who are severely mentally retarded may show no symptoms of excellencies in abilities. That isn’t because they are not there. Many things remain yet undiscovered on this planet and in this universe. A great flaw is in assuming that what isn’t apparent isn’t there. A great tragedy of our time is the waste of great minds just because they seem inferior. Genius is often balanced by what appears to be great lacks. Idiot savants demonstrate genius along with no abilities in some areas and few in others.
Imagine how different banking would have been had numeric ‘idiot savants’ (who could do tremendous calculations much faster than calculators can still do them) been trained and hired at the banks to check and keep numerical records in the 1400s. Yehovah gave them great and very useful abilities. Were they used?
Some personalities love the sea. Some love snow. Yehovah has given great variation.
I find the idea that proteins in DNA can produce personality without any merit. If personalities were passed on, children would have the same personalities as their parents. They just don’t. They are so individual, so different one from another, that there is no explaining. Identical twins have very different personalities.
All personalities are given to benefit others. (That is another statement that I am making from the angle of faith in the Bible.) All personalities can produce what the Bible classifies as good fruit. That is why there will be a judgment. If some could never produce good fruit, they would not be judged.
Character, and Ethics and Morality Defined
While personality is built in and created, I propose that character is totally in the hands of the person. Others can attempt to change a person’s character, but only the owner can truly change this.
Character is the sum of behaviours that are ethical, moral, beneficial, harmful, constructive, destructive, good, bad, spiritual and religious in nature. Add all these things pertaining to one person, and this describes the person’s character and the person’s true characteristics.
Humans are capable of being totally inconsistent. A person can be very helpful at one moment and totally and intentionally unhelpful at the next. A person can show the highest ethics at one moment and great immorality at the next. If just a part of a person’s actions is considered, the person might be seen as very moral and kind. If another part of the same person’s actions is considered, the same person may seem as crude, vulgar, destructive and a very ‘bad apple.’ The person’s character must be the sum of all such things and not one part.
Ethics is the set of principles, rules, standards of conduct, and human duty. It is concerned with distinguishing between good and evil in the world, between right and wrong human actions, and between virtuous and non-virtuous characteristics of individuals and peoples, especially in a business, social and cultural sense.
Morality is conformity to the rules and duties of right, good, and virtuous conduct conduct pertaining to a god/God. It is concerned with the distinction between good and evil or right and wrong in terms of a god/God.
Since both ethics and morality have everything to do with right/wrong, good/evil,and virtue, they both have everything to do with a god/God. Anyone who has no god/God will have no anchor for either ethics or morality; the person will only be able to agree or disagree with others about conduct, and will hold no authority higher than human agreement as a judge and source of ethics or morality.
Character is a choice. I will not state that the God of the Bible has given each human a choice regarding character, since that isn’t true. The Biblical God of Avraham commanded humans to refrain from sin, to do right, to ‘bear good fruit.’ Where there is a command of such a nature, no choice is given. If humans ‘choose’ to do wrong, they were not given those actions as a choice; they are in violation. They have stolen a choice they were not given, and are in disobedience.
Yet, humans are made in the image of God and are given God-like abilities and characteristics. Thus, they can do good, and they can destroy. They can benefit, and they can harm. Yehovah Himself does both, but always in righteousness. Humans can do the same.
Each person who has a properly functioning mind (that is, who is not in a coma or hallucinating) can determine to live by good character. Most humans determine to be perfectly inconsistent in character. They determine to be kind when it suits them or is profitable to them, and they determine to be cold, hostile, or just harmful when they desire to respond in this way. They have reasons for the responses they portray to others. Those reasons are sometimes valid; they are often based on incomplete information, prejudices, bitterness, personal advantage, or a host of other possible bases that are not truth.
If each person is made in the image of the God of the Bible (as the Bible claims from its beginning), each person has a responsibility to properly reflect that God by doing what is right. Using the image of God to do wrong is a form of blasphemy, since that harms the reputation of that God. Bad or inconsistent character is a great insult to that God.
How Can One Change Character?
A person who has been a liar for years can determine to quit lying. A thief can determine to quit stealing. Persons can change. Such a change does not require a religious experience or a faith. Humans are made in the image of God, and therefore are given the ability to change. If folks could not change, they also would not be held responsible for what they do. If morality and ethics are replaced by instinct, there are no such things as right and wrong. Yet, curiously, even animals that are driven by instinct can be taught right and wrong through rewards and chastisement. Trained animals can know that they did well; they can also know when they did wrong. Humans are far higher, openly discussing right and wrong and knowing these concepts. Even Balaam’s ass knew right and wrong.
Right and wrong cannot exist without a god/God. Nature has no right and wrong. If there is no god/God, there is no such thing as moral or ethical right or wrong. A true atheist cannot claim that someone did him wrong, since who is to say what is right or wrong? If right and wrong are by the consent and agreement of a population, and nature has no god/God, who is to say that the majority is ‘right’? A true atheist can say at best that he didn’t like what was done to him, but he cannot claim a moral ‘high ground’ by saying that he was ‘done wrong.’
Some folks have the stupidity to claim that there is no absolute. Making such a claim is declaring an absolute: “There is absolutely no absolute.” Since that is impossible, there is an absolute. Thus, there must be Truth. Stating, “There is no Truth” would be stating a truth! That is without sense.
Truth
Since absolutes and truth both exist, morality and ethics must also exist. Yet, no person can discover Truth. (How would a person know that it was Truth that he or she discovered?) The discovery of anything must be based upon prior knowledge. If I discover oil, I must be able to identify oil. If I have never seen oil before and know nothing about it, I won’t know that I have discovered oil. I will only see a slimy black substance that is very difficult to wash off, that doesn’t have a pleasant smell, and that ruins land, food and clothing. I found something, but I won’t know what it is until I am taught what it is. The same is the case with Truth. Anyone who finds it, having nothing with which to compare it, will not know that it is Truth, and won’t know its uses.
Truth is always connected with a god/God. Only a god/God can declare Truth and can expose it for what it is. Humans learn from others, from their environments, and from nature. They cannot learn Truth by discovery, however. They must be taught Truth from other humans who were also taught Truth, and those in turn had to be taught it. All learning about Truth ultimately goes back to a god/God.
The statement, “Truth is relative,” is true—it is relative to a god/God. Every god/God is the source of Truth. Without a god/God, Truth cannot be learned. All observations in science go back to assumptions and other observations. That is why hypotheses and theories from observations are the starting points of science. Yet, the word science means knowledge. Knowledge implies truth. Thus, true science goes back to a god/God. A hypothesis is very closely akin to a guess; a theory starts out as a hypothesis, and evidence that seems to substantiate the hypothesis is gathered. When ‘enough’ evidence seems to be there, it is entitled a theory. It still is unproven, since anything truly proven is a fact, not a theory. Thus, science is based on observations and assumptions, evidences and ideas. While science means knowledge, therefore, it really isn’t knowledge at all. “What we know…” is an overstatement. “What we have observed…” is correct, and “What we hypothesize or theorize” is also correct. “We know that hydrogen gas ignited in the presence of oxygen gas produces great heat and rapid oxidation…” should instead be, “We observe that hydrogen gas ignited in the presence of oxygen gas produces great heat and rapid oxidation…” A scientist would know that a very small amount of hydrogen gas in the presence of a very small amount of oxygen gas may not produce great heat and rapid oxidation even if ignited.
Truth is always exactly that: Truth. Nothing can be called a Truth if its characteristics only occur part of the time. It is necessarily always and absolutely the case.
As I stated, only a god/God can declare and expose Truth. Only such a being that is absolute in its very nature can declare that something is a Truth. Humans can observe many things that they think are truths, but a god/God must confirm or declare it to be Truth before a human can know that it is a Truth.
This brings me back to right and wrong. Both of these are declarations of Truth. If one states, “That is wrong for you to do,” that person is declaring what that person believes to be a truth. The other person might agree or disagree, claiming that this is a matter of opinion. All things are matters of opinions if they are not based on something that transcends what humans can possibly naturally know. All faiths, religions, atheisms, moralities, ethics, etc. are just opinions if they are not based on a god/God.
If a person will determine to have a good character—one that is beneficial to others, that person will need to have an anchor for what is good. Some believe that sexually sleeping around with various women doesn’t hurt their ‘good’ character. In their views, sleeping around isn’t immoral; it is enjoyable and actually profitable for all involved. They do not concern themselves with a god/God that denounces such actions as immorality.
I use ‘god/God’ for a reason. Humans invent nearly all the gods that exist in this world. Those made-up gods are anchors for their souls, giving them strength when they need it and a hope for living. The Bible indicates that Yehovah created angels, a portion of whom rebelled, desiring His overthrow. He did not lock up the vast majority of the rebels, but has given them enough power to ‘act’ in the roles of the false gods humans devise. That is why the gods seem to work; they have demons that do many things that worshippers request. If false gods didn’t work, folks would soon abandon them. (They will not work during the Tribulation.)
If the Bible is true, only Yehovah the Gods of the Bible (intentionally plural, reflecting the Hebrew plurality of Elohim) is the True and Living God, including Yeshua Who is this God and with this God. (A true God has no problem being in more than one place at one time, and therefore can easily show Himself as a Son and a Father without conflict.) If this in turn is true, then only Yehovah/Yeshua is capable of showing and teaching Truth to a human or to humans, who are then able to teach the very same Truth to other humans.
The same problem with science occurs with Truth: how can one prove Truth? One cannot prove Truth, since the proof of Truth requires the entire view of Yehovah. He teaches Truth, but proving Truth is the same as proving that there is a God and that Yehovah is that God. Yehovah Himself has kept humans from proving these things in order for humans to live by faith. (Faith is a certainty, a conviction for the holder of it, but it cannot be proven to another.)
Curiously, humans do live in a world that portrays Truth all around it. Yehovah designed the constellations to act exactly as the Bible does, giving events in pictures so that accurate readers who read them literally can learn Truth.
All children are born with justice built in (if they are not born with impairments that keep them from functioning). They know that there is justice and injustice. Babies will strongly protest if they feel that something was taken from them that they felt they should have. They are showing sensitivity to justice at the earliest age.
Some children singe their consciences early in life. They practice cruelties to other children and animals, and lose sense of right and wrong—‘sort of.’ (If another stronger child hurts them, they are quick to protest, showing that they still know right and wrong.) Anyone who is capable of protesting what that person sees as injustice has a sense of right and wrong, since justice always has everything to do with right and wrong.
Making a character adjustment can be in either direction. A person can determine to have a good character, or can determine to form a strong and ‘bad’ character. This does not affect the personality.
If every personality is hand-created by Yehovah and gives the holder the ability to do good using it, that indicates that a judgment of that person for the way he or she used that personality is only reasonable. The person will be judged for the way the person shaped his/her character and the way the person used that personality created by God. This judgment will be of the person’s works.
Works
Works are ethical/moral responsibilities and/or actions that a person does in terms of a god/God. (Whatever is ethical or moral is always in terms of a god/God.) Works are subdivided into good works, bad works, dead works and evil works. The person might not know that this has anything to do with a god, but it always does.
Regular occupations by which one earns money for a living that do not involve ethical/moral things are not normally part of works.
Labour is a person’s occupation, often accompanied by difficulty, toil, wearisomeness, etc. The difference between works and labour is this: works have to do with ethical/moral responsibilities and/or actions, while labour is the person’s occupation. They can be one in the same, but that is not normally the case.
A person with a consistently good character will do good works. That doesn’t mean that the person believes the Bible or in the God of the Bible. Humans are well suited for doing good works regardless of faith. Thus, the person can take moral and ethical responsibility for situations and persons in life, doing what is best.
A person with an inconsistent character will sometimes do good works and will sometimes refuse to do them or will do harmful or bad works.
A person with a consistently bad character will do destructive works on a consistent basis.
All folks can change.
Environment
This is the sum of all factors external to a person including those things and forces that are and are not in the person’s control. The person did not provide most of a person’s environment.
Environments can be harmful, distracting, beneficial, enlivening, beautiful, terribly ugly, deadly, healthful, etc.
No environment ever shapes a person. The environment doesn’t have that power. An environment can kill a person. (The Chernobyl disaster shows that.) It can also give life. (Think of a beautiful garden of fruits and vegetables.) Humans can reshape their environments; no environment can shape a person. Yehovah did not design any environment to have that much power; there will be no judgment for any environment as if it is a separate entity.
When a person of very good character is set in a terrible environment, that person can shape his or her character and use his or her personality to remake the immediate environment into something good. A violent and bloody war zone is not a good environment. Yet, a field hospital in the middle of that zone where lives are saved and depression is turned to hope is an environment all its own.
Of the many children reared in the best environments, some determine to ruin their own characters for a variety of reasons. (Many reasons often involve sacrificing their characters for their ‘friends,’ compatriots of theirs who have ruined characters themselves; some involve intentionally criminalizing their characters because they are bitter against parents, against others, and always against God.)
There are children who are reared (or abandoned) in the worst environments who curiously determine to oversee their own characters to be the best and most constructive. They grow into very gracious and kind adults, having been forged in the fires of terror and harm. This makes no logical sense, yet it occurs.
Most children develop their characters to be partially beneficial, partially unwise or even very foolish. The part of their characters that they keep ‘good’ helps them have little conscience about the part of their characters that they ruin. They see justice as on a balance beam, typical of the various forms of Judaism that wrongly thinks that the God of the Bible will grade on a curve. They think that if they do more right than wrong, more good than evil, more righteousness than sin, more charitable giving than ruining others, that God will grant them life. (They will have one hell of a shock in the judgment.)
A real problem occurs with folks who have inconsistent characters. Such a character frustrates others who see that a person can do so well, and then intentionally ruins things by ‘screwing up.’ A person who can do well is far more aggravating than a person who consistently does wrong. The ‘hope’ that is placed on a person who inconsistently does right makes for great and repeated disappointment when the person does wrong, while there is little or no hope placed on one who is consistent with a bad character.
Who Can Judge Character?
Most folks do not know the status of their own character. They incorrectly see themselves. Humans are amazingly unable to judge themselves even when they can judge others with much better insight. Thus, those with bad character don’t think they are that bad in many cases. Others with good character see themselves as being flawed, and even judging themselves as having bad character because of the miscellaneous thoughts that race through their minds.
The settled person with good character doesn’t think about self-judgment like that; the person determines to do right and to benefit when possible and when beneficial (sometimes it isn’t beneficial!), and isn’t self-centered. That is a good a peaceful way to be.
The best way to determine good character is to have excellent examples of good character. Classic novelists like Jane Austen explored the issues of character throughout their novels. They wrote about folks with the best character, folks with the worst character, and folks with inconsistent character.
The Bible also explores character. A reader must read the Bible far more carefully to see this than a person who read Jane Austen, because the Bible has a different intent. One perhaps can tell that Joseph in Genesis had an excellent character, but enough fools have accused him of various things so that others might not know this. The case of Jacob is far worse. The Bible portrays Jacob’s character as only excellent, yet a consensus among many in Christianity is that he was far worse in character than his brother Esau! Again, ethics and morality are always linked to a god/God. Folks who see Jacob’s character as only good have believed the God of the Bible; those who see his character as flawed have linked their beliefs to another god that the Bible does not support. Judging character requires having a basis for that judgment. This gets back to right and wrong, and thus morality and immorality, ethics and ethical violation. These in turn hearken back to a god/God.
Responsibility Versus Rights
Many voices will speak of rights. God supposedly gave humans certain inalienable rights, like of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Had the document that contained these words been infallible, these would be human rights. Men who had no basic understanding of the Bible wrote that document, however. Had they, they wouldn’t have written these things.
Life is not an inalienable right. If it were, God could not take a life, and the death penalty would be a violation under all circumstances.
Liberty is also not an inalienable right. Joseph in the Bible lost his liberty, and was a slave for the rest of his life. No one is free, anyway. Every human is a slave to another or others. Folks want to see themselves as free, but that is because they are deluding themselves. Most are slaves to sin and to their own passions. Some are slaves to others. A very few are slaves of righteousness.
The pursuit of happiness is the worst of the three. What makes one person happy may be at the cost of misery, pain and death to another. Pursuing happiness is a truly vain pursuit.
On the other hand, there is one inalienable right: the right to do righteousness. Every person has the right to do righteousness before Yehovah. No one can be forced to do unrighteousness.
Instead of the futility of ‘rights,’ the wisdom of responsibilities is far better instruction. Every person who has matured some since birth and who can be taught should be given the privilege of responsibilities. A responsibility is an ability to respond to something needed or someone in need along with the appropriateness to respond and the inappropriateness to ignore the need.
Responsibilities arise from the most curious circumstances. Sometimes humans give other humans responsibilities. Life, however, presents some great mysteries, for responsibilities often do not arise from assignments given by humans. A person notices a child lost in a mall. The person asks the child if he is lost, and he indicates that he is. That person now becomes responsible for the welfare of that child. Who gave the assignment?
The first denial of responsibility came not from Cain, but from Cain’s father: “The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.” That was a denial of responsibility. When Cain later denied responsibility for his brother, he demonstrated that he had been a good student of his evil father.
Some folks on this planet voluntarily take on responsibilities for pay. That is called working for a living. Others take on responsibilities for no pay, and with a hope of some type of reward. That is often called domestic service. Still others take on responsibilities knowing that they will probably never see a reward, but they do it because it is right. Responsibilities are usually right.
I am not referring to folks who feel responsible for things and persons over which they have no real responsibility in the areas they think they do. Such burdens are very heavy to carry. I am only considering cases where taking on responsibilities is appropriate.
A person with good character will take responsibility and will take on responsibilities. These two mean very different things, but they are quite related.
One who takes responsibility admits that he or she was the cause of something (usually bad, but sometimes good). That person is unwilling to have another carry the burden for some loss, if it is bad. Many work hard to avoid being in this position. Adam and Cain were both of that nature. A person like this will also avoid responsibilities.
One who takes on responsibilities can be beneficial. (I am not considering cases where folks arrogantly take on responsibilities that they can’t handle, and thus cause problems rather than solving them.) A person who sees a need or a void who can and does fill it in a constructive way will be beneficial. A person who avoids all responsibilities has only one real use on this earth: to be food for maggots.
Good character will always include voluntarily taking responsibility when that is appropriate, and taking on responsibilities. No person of good character avoids all responsibilities. Even persons of terrible character will take responsibilities if it will suit them. The head of a violent gang will take responsibility for members of his gang.
When a person of good character takes on responsibilities that are appropriate for that person and for the ones over whom he or she is being responsible, the personality of that person then becomes a useful tool for the success of the responsibilities. If the person’s personality includes beautiful singing and humour, those two aspects of personality will make normal and routine work in life seem almost enjoyable.
Yeshua said to the Israelis, “Ye are the salt of the earth.” Many read this, erroneously thinking that He is speaking of salt’s preserving action. The text itself declares otherwise, but readers of the Bible rarely include folks who take texts literally and who think them through. How can the Israelis be the salt of the earth? The Bible describes the Millennium during which the Israelis will be missionaries to the world, infallibly bringing the Truth of Yehovah to the races. They will work among the races, doing tasks with them while instructing them. Routine and repetitive work will be a great pleasure as they consider things of God, what He did, how He did what He said He would do, and what He will do. Thus, life will be very enjoyable for many who would otherwise find life much work without such pleasant distractions. While the Millennium will be a return to the full fruitfulness of the planet, the various races will still have work to do. Work is work, even in the Millennium. The Israelis will give tastiness to their lives as salt brings out the flavour of foods.
The Israelis are the salt of the earth right now. No matter where they go, they bring very interesting aspects to life. The foods, the dress, the traditions, the Torah—all lend to much thought for those interested in deeper considerations of life. Yet, so much of the time, “the salt has lost its savour.” The Israelis are trying to be regular folks instead of being what they are called to be, and what they will be. That will change after many centuries. The Israelis will finally see, understand, and believe. In the meantime, faith will be spotty, at best, in Israel.
An example of Good Character, Vital Personality, and Voluntarily Taking Responsibility
There were two Tamars in the Bible. (The name Tamar means palm tree!) One was a woman of great wisdom whose affect on others will continue to the End Times. The other was tragic, never able to get over the bitterness of a wrong done to her, never determining to make good where she was and with whom she was. Because of her bitterness, though it was expressed by silence, her foolish and vile brother murdered a half-brother (a vile man himself, a real swinehead), and went on in his bitterness to cause the death of thousands. Thus, we have two Tamars, two palm trees. I find the one Tamar who did excellent things to be my heroine; she proved such wisdom.
When I think of love, I think of the definition that I proposed: ‘Seeking the highest, best interest of others without regard to self.’ The best interest of a person may not appear that way at the time it is being sought.
Consider Joseph, and consider Yehovah. Joseph’s brothers hated him. While it doesn’t really matter why they hated him, the text does explain why. Joseph did nothing to deserve their hatred, but they did hate him. They therefore plotted to be rid of him. While they were plotting, having placed him naked in a dry-water well, others came, found him, took him, and sold him as a slave to Egypt. He was seventeen.
Look at the wisdom of Joseph. Being brought to Potiphar as a slave, he didn’t seek to run away. Instead, he sought to benefit. The character of this man has fascinated me. He determined to be and to do as if he loved Potiphar—to seek the highest, best interest of that man without regard to himself. The text never indicates why Joseph did this, or how he felt. It is as if Yehovah were completely cold to Joseph’s predicament, because He was. Joseph had a very important life-saving assignment, and he had to be prepared. His personal feelings about the advantages that he lost when taken from his father were not the concern of Yehovah or of the Bible. He needed to be trained for life, brought to adulthood and then very quickly to great responsibility. He had to save the entire Middle East. Yehovah had no intention of apprising him of this coming responsibility; that would have done him no good. Instead, Yehovah watched Joseph prove the excellence of his character.
Joseph worked hard as a slave. He prospered his slavemaster in all things to such a degree that his master put all things under his hand—all things except his very wife. Joseph determined to have excellent character—to prove an excellent moral and ethical standard in all things. He didn’t look for what was his own; he didn’t look for his own rights. He considered his responsibilities, and he went after them with a zeal that defied reason and logic. But then, Joseph feared Yehovah.
After slaving for Potiphar for a number of years, because he was of such good character, Mrs. Potiphar (whose husband was a eunuch, and therefore was unable to have sexual intercourse—and thus unable to gain any sexual satisfaction from Potiphar) determined to force Joseph to have sexual intercourse with her. He refused, and got away from her only by relinquishing his garment. Thus, he escaped naked, and waited for Potiphar to return. Upon his return, Mrs. Potiphar accused him of attempted rape. Now, Potiphar was no fool. He knew of Joseph’s character. Yet, being the chief executioner of Pharaoh, he was honour-bound to not overlook the accusation. He thus took Joseph, and instead of killing him, delivered him to the royal prison as if he were taking his son to the university! It was so strange. He didn’t harm Joseph; he delivered him closer to Pharaoh, though as a prisoner.
Now, in prison, Joseph again demonstrated the excellence of his character, determining only to benefit all around him, including the prison warden and guards. It wasn’t long before the warden turned care of all the prisoners to Joseph! Did Joseph miss his family and friends? He terribly missed them, but he kept his eyes on the fear of Yehovah. One Psalm declares that Joseph’s being became steel! Again, this was necessary for the vital work he had to later perform. Yet, he didn’t know this.
Joseph learned at least two vital lessons as a slave to Potiphar: he came to understand men and women in the highest positions in the land of Egypt, and he came to understand men and women who were slaves. Thus, he learned the highest and the lowest of ranks in Egypt.
Joseph learned at least two vital lessons as a prisoner: he came to understand men who were over the royal prisoners (they had to be very careful in their treatment of prisoners), and he came to understand those who were in the royal house who had been delivered to the royal prison! Thus, he learned of the lives and mindsets of the highest in rank in Egypt, and those who were the most desperate to escape. He studied them, and he benefited all with his words, his works and his wisdom. He again gained such trust that he could have easily escaped, but escape wasn’t on his mind. The fear of Yehovah was on his mind, and the determination to benefit those around him. I cannot tell you how much respect and admiration I have for this man, and how much I have for women in the Bible who proved the same character. Character is truly in the hands of the person, and not in the hands of any other.
Now, Yehovah gave Joseph the ability to interpret dreams. That finally brought him to the attention of Pharaoh who desperately needed a dream interpreted. Joseph again selflessly served this man without regard to himself. He never pleaded for his own cause. Yet, Pharaoh realized that this man had the Spirit of the Gods in him, and that he would be the best to oversee the coming famine that Potiphar’s dreams had indicated. Thus, Joseph, still a slave, was now slave to Pharaoh. He again demonstrated his excellence of character, diligently working to gather food against the coming tragic famine. In the meantime, Pharaoh honoured him by giving him a woman—the daughter of the very highest ranking of pagan priests in the land of Egypt. Joseph’s love for this woman is unmentioned in the Bible; I can tell that he loved her, and that she loved him—she loved a slave who was from a shepherding background, and thus an abomination to the Egyptians! The excellence of his character again only benefited those around him. He still missed his brothers and his father. Yet, he had work to do; and he did his work.
He later got to see his brothers and father. He had to wait so many years. Yet, he got to see them, and to benefit them! His brothers changed little in their ways, yet he benefited them with a love that just doesn’t make sense—except to a person of excellent character. Joseph died a hero of the Bible of unbelievable proportions.
I am fascinated to watch a person develop character. That person, and only that person, has power and authority over this one small area of life. No person can ever legitimately claim that environment plays a key role in character development without calling the Bible a lie. Environment has never been more than an excuse to do badly or a reason to do well. Those who have been reared in the worst environments on this planet, but who have been granted life by Yehovah, have turned out one of two ways: very bitter and filled with vile poison against Yehovah and others, or very wise and determined to do good to others (whether in faith or not). A few have determined to fear Yehovah, and have set themselves to only do right toward both man and God. They turn supposed disadvantages into advantages, for they are made in the image of God.
Yehovah Himself stated that man certainly would succeed in his plans if Yehovah didn’t stop him at the building of city and tower in Shinar. If those who determined against God would certainly succeed in the most evil of plans without Yehovah’s intervention, who or what can stop one who is determined to do good and to benefit?
Yehovah had to remove Joseph from his ‘loving and nurturing’ environment for a far greater goal—a goal that would save from starvation the very family he so greatly missed! Joseph later knew that. Perhaps he occasionally understood that while he was in Potiphar’s home and while a prisoner. He also mourned, but he always still did only what was beneficial and right for those around him.
An Address to ‘You’
Will you pursue the shiftless goal of a fun life with a minimization of responsibility and a maximization of pleasure, going from here to there, always looking for where you can have the most immediate happiness? Will you chase the illusive and worthless American dream, the pursuit of ‘happiness’? Or will you, with an attachment to the Torah, prove to be a son or daughter of Joseph, whose goal is always to benefit those with whom you are set? Will you prove to be bitter against the very parents given you by Yehovah, and thus prove to be bitter against Yehovah Himself, proving your life to be another waste of Yehovah’s time and in violation of the Torah that commands the Israelis to recognize parents as important, or will you gain steel in your being, determined to demonstrate to Yehovah that you are a daughter of the Torah, the Teaching of Yehovah, and that the life He gave you is worth so much that you will serve others to benefit them, and to save their lives? Said another way, will you prove that the love, nurturing and investment that folks placed in you was for no real value, because it made you of little worth when dealing with the very parents who brought you into the world, whom Yehovah chose to bring you into this world, or will you ‘prove your salt,’ bringing real and delightful flavour to the lives of those around you, being of such value and valour, that many will love you and look to you?
Are you certain that Yehovah didn’t send you to where you are presently located for a time of learning? You may be there for life—that is, to save lives. Will you function with the excellence of your good sense and sense of humour, or will you prove to be bitter against Yehovah in whose image you are made? Will you be a tragic figure like the one Tamar, or will you change the history of the world like the other, being of the greatest benefit? Are you a daughter of the Covenant made to Avraham, or are you just like the world?
A Summary
I have proposed that personality is created and is unchanging. Every personality is given to benefit others if it will be used in this way. Character is quite changeable, and can be beneficial, harmful, or inconsistent. Character will determine whether personality will be used to harm, to benefit or to inconsistently mix harm and benefit. Environments can be terrible, excellent, or a mixture of both. Environments have nothing to do with whether a person shapes his/her own character to be beneficial or harmful. Character and personality together are able to reshape an environment (for good or bad).
Truth, absolutes, morality and ethics can only exist if there is a god/God or gods/Gods. The very idea of a good character implies the possibility of good, and that in turn implies morality and ethics. Every religious system in the world always includes a god/God, including atheism, since every religious system defines good and bad, morality and immorality.
Responsibility and works come with character. Those who take responsibility and are responsible, and those who do beneficial works demonstrate good character as long as they are consistent in these things. The pursuit of happiness is a fool’s mission.
Everyone is a slave. No one born of a woman will ever be free; even Yehovah Himself has constraints so that He must do actions that are consistent with His character. He cannot and will not sin. Be like Him; don’t sin.
Use your personality for the benefit of others. Determine to have a consistent, good character. Reshape your environment using these so that others will desire to also have a consistent, good character. These things are your rights.