REPUTATION OR CHARACTER?

REPUTATION OR CHARACTER?

Luke 6:26

26 Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.

Rom 5:1-5

1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

            There must be some error when ALL men speak well of us. Our reputation is often a snapshot instead of a full feature film. “For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.” (James 3:2) We are generally not as bad as someone reports us to be – nor as good. William Shakespeare wrote, “To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.”

          It is not as important to maintain a good reputation as it is to build true character. Character is built on decisions and decisions are built on values. Christian values are based on faith because the believer makes decisions that the world considers foolish. Jesus warned that anyone who lived by eternal values would often be in trouble with the world. We are to be “salt” and “light” (Matthew 5:13) and sometimes the salt stings and the brightness of the light reveals concealed sin.

           It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion.  It is easy in solitude to live after one's own.  But the great man is he who, in the midst of the crowd, keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of his character. 

   -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Dear Lord, if I am maligned, let it be due to my decisions which are built on Christian values. AMEN