Reputation is important, but integrity last forever

Reputation is important, but integrity lasts forever.

But the fruit the Holy Spirit produces is love, joy and peace. It is being patient, kind and good. It is being faithful and gentle and having control of oneself. There is no law against things of that kind.  Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed their sinful desires to his cross. They don’t want these things anymore.  Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.  Let us not become proud. Let us not make each other angry. Let us not want what belongs to others. (Galatians 5:22-26 NIrV)

Let me explain . .  .

What people think about us . . . our reputation . . . is indeed important. We can be know to be punctual. We can be known as trustworthy. We can be known as kind, giving, and friendly. Yet it only takes one harsh word or a misunderstood text, email, or an on-line post, and our reputation is tarnished . . . perhaps for good.

Yet God knows who we really are. He knows who we are when we are home alone and when we are in public. He knows how we act in church and how we act at work. What God knows about us in our integrity! People may not like us because we do not curse. hey may give us the side eye when we talk about God and His work within our lives and others'. They may even shun us and speak ill of us when we are not present. Our reputation may not be so good with people, yet with God we are in good standing . . . for eternity!

How is your reputation compared to your integrity today? While we do all we can to be friendly and help others, there are some things we just cannot do as CHRISTians and some things we cannot do without! We cannot love God and the world!

What God knows matters!