Character
There is a difference between character and faith; it is often hard to accept this fact and put up with it, but the fact that a person may believe in and love the Cause even being ready to die for it -- and yet not have a good personal character or possess traits at variance with the teachings. We try to change, to let the Power of God help recreate us make us true Bahá’ís in deed as well as in belief. But the process is slow, sometimes it never happened the individual does not try hard enough. But these cause us suffering and are a test to us in our fellow-believers, most especially if we love him and have been their teacher!
- Universal House of Justice, Lights of Guidance, p. 76
Quote of the Day
Kamal 18 Mulk 182 B.E.
. . . if we spontaneously desire to acknowledge we have been wrong in something and that we have some fault of character, and ask another person's forgiveness or pardon, we are quite free to do so. The Guardian wants to point out, however, that we are not obliged to do so. It rests entirely with the individual.
From a letter written by the Universal House of Justice to a National Spiritual Assembly – 19 March, 1973