Happiness. When your child is among a select few who have good character, he/she will be filled with a sense of accomplishment that brings happiness. Peace with one’s Self. You must be at peace with yourself before you can be at peace with others. Helping your child be at peace with him/her self will help the development of self-esteem and self-confidence necessary to shun bad company. A Social Capital. Good character makes one sociable and increases the capacity to make and retain great friends. People hang out with pleasant people. You can help your child develop competency in this area. Good rating at work place. It adds value to a person at the work place. A poor character will put a limitation on how a person is rated in the work place. The ability to work with others is an added advantage when it comes to job recruiting. No wonder positive recommendation from previous employer is of great importance when seeking for job. Leadership position. It brings promotion to leadership position at the work place. The ability to work well with others which is commonly tagged team-play, is an important assessment required in most organizations. A good character can be assumed as the ability to work well with both senior officers as well as subordinates and as such he/she can get work done. Shields him/her from trouble. Good character keeps you out of prison because it makes you always stay on the side of the law, thus you are not a threat to the peace of the public. Persons of good character shun lawlessness and love the company of law-abiding persons like them, thus enjoying the peace they consciously preserve. Life prolongation. Prolongs one’s life because it prevents unnecessary risks which could make peace of mind elusive. This could make a child shun activities that expose him/her to diseases and ill health that may emanate from risky behaviours and bad choices. Enhances scholarship. Children with good character have higher academic attainment. They develop into persons who are willing to put in long hours of study to attain academic goals. Delay gratification. There is always a need to delay gratification before a significant goal is attained in life. A strong character base is essential to achieve set goals.

10. A purpose-driven life. It takes a person with a good character to live a purpose-driven life. Such persons will not feel comfortable in the midst of miscreants and law breakers.

11.  Attracts favor. Favor comes the way of a person of character because he/she stands out in the crowd. People tend to notice how prominently you stand out in a crowd of ordinary people especially those who are not going any where when you have good character.

12. Shun sexual escapades. Sexual escapes at any time of life can result in HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections. One requires the moral rectitude which goes with a good character to say ‘No’ to the pressures that are common to people generally.

13. Role Model. A good character will make your child a role model for his/her contemporaries in a world where there is a dearth of role   models.

14. Your child will care for you when you are old. When your children          grow up, they will care for you out of gratitude for enabling them       develop good character. They will feel obligated to you in your old age. They will go the extra mile in appreciation for your input in the

developmental stages in their life.

15. A valued employee. Because a sound character communicates credibility and consistency, there is the possibility that they will be able to retain their job at all times especially in times of economic down turn. A good character also enables a person retain his/her customers because of fair and courteous dealings with people.

16. A key to success. You become a stranger to failure when good character undergirds all you do.

17. Trustworthy. A good character makes you trustworthy because you have consistently lived up to expectation and people can give the benefit of the doubt when it is necessary.

18. It would be passed on to the next generation. Good character would be well received by your children because they would have   seen   the difference it made in your life in comparison to people who different lifestyle. They would certainly want to pass it on to their children.

19. Good character breeds perspective. Your child is able to set his/her priorities right, meaning that he/she will stay focused. It can deliver a child from a life of compromise to wrong doing.

20.  An antidote to moral failure. It will enable your child do what is right even when doing it is painful. It is the strongest antidote to moral failure.

This article was written by Dr Francis Edo Olotu, Medical Practitioner, Family Counselor, Author and host of Empowering Dads blog. Visit his site at empoweringdads.wordpress.com and read his other articles. Your comments are most welcome.

Dr Francis Edo Olotu is the Medical Director of Christ Hospital, Ondo. He is also a family counselor who regularly counsels married persons and administers pre-marriage counseling to couples about to marry in his home church of St John Bosco Catholic Church Ondo. He is a frequently featured speaker in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. He is married to Catherine and their marriage is blessed with four children in the age bracket of twelve to twenty two. Dr Olotu is the author of the following books: The Amazing Power in Fatherhood; Releasing the Power in Fatherhood as well as Your Guide to Cancer Prevention.