Dwight L. Moody once said, “Character is what you are in the dark.” [“Sermons – Character, p.101]  Doing the best thing, even when – or especially when - it cannot be easily seen, is a test of integrity.  We would all like to think that we are full of integrity, and that we would not fall prey to the temptations that take down the “other guy”. 

But I remember an old saying attributed to Mark Twain, “God, please help me forgive those who sin differently than I do.”  The devil has his eye on each one of us. He has a lot of power and ability to persuade.  But he cannot “make” us do anything we don’t want to do. He cannot force us to fall.  We do that all by ourselves.

Character is not based on the things that make this world go round.  Things like

• Best grades
• Best hair
• Most money
• Best body
• “Cutest” boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse
• Biggest house
• Most expensive car
• Priciest and most ‘now’ clothing

fail to grant us good character.  In fact, if we aren’t careful, any of these things can pull us away from our heavenly goals, and trip us up. 

Watching a movie with the family the other evening, there was a scene that included the perfect example of a good young woman who got duped into thinking that she needed to fit into the world a little better.  That meant that she needed better clothes. That meant that she somehow had to obtain those clothes, which meant that she ‘had’ to get another credit card. She overspent the credit card, and then needed to figure out a way to pay the charges.  Since she didn’t have the money, she got desperate and stole some. 

You can figure out the rest of the movie. 

• Worst Case scenario:  She continues to plunge, feeling like she blew it and her life is “ruined”, and only becomes darker as the years go by.
•  Best Case scenario:  She realizes her mistake, repents, figures out a way to make restitution, and becomes committed to a life of integrity and good character.

The importance of the movie to us, as we watched and then discussed afterward, was based on the thing she “did in the dark”.  She was a person of basic character, from the look of things. But in the dark- alone except for the voice of want and vanity, she took the plunge into awkwardness, vice, and sorrow --  all because she wanted cool clothes.

Any little thing can pull us into the world’s void, if we allow ourselves to be taken in.  On the other hand, we can put a stop to the craziness, and refuse to go to those dark places. If we have found ourselves in a dark corner, we can make the needed changes in order to find ourselves in a much better, and lighter, place.  Our peace is increased exponentially as our desires and our choices align with the Savior’s teachings.

Gratefully, the Atonement was put in place.  The Savior carried out his divine part of the Plan. Our part is to grasp it, grow to better understand it, and utilize this loving gift in our lives so that we can chase any darkness from inside of us.  Sometimes that light of Truth and Goodness allows us to choose properly from the get-go. For those times when we have made an ugly mistake- big or small- by doing something we might never want to own up to in the “light of day”, His gift allows us to clean ourselves up and carry on.  We can put dark, wrongful things behind us and grow in honor.  Our character improves.

Character, is the one thing “we make in this world and take with us into the next.” [President Ezra Taft Benson, April General Conference Report, 1966, p 128.]

The brighter and stronger our character, the better able we are to deal with the dark things of this world.  Life becomes better—not necessarily because it is easier, but because we are better qualified, and stronger in character – to deal with any of those little dark things that try to creep out from a quiet corner now and again.

Phillips Brooks made an important observation about character:  “Character may be manifested in the great moments, but it is made in the small ones.”  The kind of character that allows a person to find someone’s wallet, with thousands of dollars in it, and return it with every single dollar. The kind of character that drives an employee to put in an honest day’s work, even when her co-workers are spending their time on the Internet or texting with friends.  The kind of character that allows a person to act the same at home as they would on the opposite side of the world, where “no one knows them.”

Sometimes, character is made in the dark, where no one in this world can see. Once the goodness of integrity is stamped on our hearts, we can be the ones who do the right thing. Surely, heaven smiles!