“TEMI, TEMI”- THE CALL OF THE MAN I DID NOT RECOGNISE 

Irewamiri and I checked into a hotel on a trip out of town. We walked into the restaurant of the hotel to order a meal. Afterward, we went into our room. I remembered that I had to pick a thing from the vehicle. 

As I stepped out, a man beckoned on me saying “Timi, Timi…” (He got the pronunciation of my name wrong) but I turned to confirm it was me. Indeed, it turned out to be my Dad’s cousin whom I do not know but knows me. He said, “Once I saw you in the restaurant, I knew you were Bro. Matthew’s son”. He mentioned the name of my siblings and a lot of family members. When he mentioned his lineage of the family tree, I knew his siblings. It was a shock. 

When I got to the room, I told Irewamiri that solid character and integrity are key in life. What if I was trying to hide away to commit an atrocity? We laughed over it. 

Some men live a double life. There is an adage in our culture that says, “Your actions are not without consequences, they are only hidden until the right time”. The scripture also admonished us thus: “…and you may be sure that your sin will find you out”.

Numbers 32:23 NIV

One of the things that you must add to your faith is virtue. Virtue is moral excellence. Let men look at your life and know that you are a man of solid character. Let it be clear that there are no differences between your words and your actions. 

When some people say “Good morning”, you may need to look out to confirm if it is morning indeed. If you lose your integrity and goodwill, you have lost a great social capital in life. Goodwill is capital. 

There are husbands that the wife is never certain of where they are per time. You are building a house without a foundation that will collapse on the builder. You must live a life of accountability. 

A young man once told me while his dad was on the sick bed, “If this old man dies and different women begin to show up with claims that they have children for him, we will not doubt them at all.” What a life! Trust is completely eroded. 

What are you building? 

Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;

1 Corinthians 3:12 KJV

You are either building Gold Grade Character, Silver Grade Character, Precious Stone Grade Character, Wood Grade Character, Hay Grade Character, or Stubble Grade Character.

What is the quality of what you are building?