When I asked this well-known dilemma to single Christians, I was curious about their answers. "Does faith come first, or character?" Sister H didn't hesitate and asserted, "Character before faith." She explained her reason as follows.
"Even if a person doesn't have faith right now, if they have a good character, they are more likely to become a good believer when they are evangelized later. However, even if someone is a Christian, it's problematic if they are rude and don't know how to consider others. Personality and character are not easy to change. They say that you can't teach an old dog new tricks."
Not only for choosing a spouse, but also for success, character is important. The author of "Good Character is the Driving Force of Success" emphasized that character is more important than specifications for success.
"Success is equal to the ability (knowledge, information, creativity, skills, etc.) that a person has multiplied by their character. Even if you have ability, you cannot achieve true success if your character level is low."
The reason why the subtitle of the book "Good Character is the Driving Force of Success" is "Develop Your Character to Be Happy" is also due to this reason. It emphasizes that to achieve true success and happiness in life, one must become a person with good character.
The importance of character has been emphasized regardless of time or place. Phillips Academy, a school where 3 out of 100 graduates are listed in the American Who's Who, has the highest admission rate to prestigious universities such as Harvard and Yale, has the largest high school library in the world, and has produced the most leading figures in American society throughout history. The reason why this school became a prestigious school is not because of its world-class curriculum and facilities, but because of its founding philosophy.
"Not for Self."
Phillips Academy is said to devote all its passion to practicing education that emphasizes its founding philosophy in order to cultivate students as leaders who will contribute to American and world society.
High schools that emphasize character are not only in the United States. Chungnam Samsung High School, which opened in 2014, also sets "correct character" as its founding philosophy and guides its students. It focuses on preparing students for their lives rather than focusing on immediate college entrance exams. In particular, there is a program called "66-day Miracle Crucible (MSMP)" that helps students form nine habits by living together for 66 days. The nine habits are punctuality, proper dining etiquette, regular exercise habits, greeting well, using polite language, following rules, having a proper attitude in class, setting study plans, and self-directed learning. They are putting all their effort into cultivating seemingly small habits and manners. Surprisingly, despite not focusing on entrance exam-oriented education, the college entrance rate of graduates of this school is very high. Nine out of the first graduating class in 2017, 12 out of the second graduating class, and 9 out of the third graduating class were admitted to Seoul National University. Chungnam Samsung High School considers this to be a positive result of education that emphasizes correct character.
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