Your reputation or God’s reputation?
Jesus said in Luke Chapter 6, ‘There’s trouble ahead when you live only for the approval of others, saying what flatters them, doing what indulges them. Popularity contests are not truth contests – Look at how many scoundrel preachers were approved by your ancestors! Your task is to be true, not popular.’
Your character is who you are when no one’s watching. The very best and worst of you rolled into one, and one of the goals of maturing is to get your character in line with who God created you to be.
So I assure you that it’s not worth it to forfeit what the Bible tells us just to please people or to be ‘accepted’. As children of God, our stand in Christ should be as bold as a hoarding by the side of the road, regardless of what people think about it.
We bear the name of God and are witnesses that our God is God. So what do our lives say about Him? If we who bear His name fail to live up to that name’s reputation, we break the third commandment and profane the name of God. Everything we think and act upon should glorify God (Philippians 4:8), and there are certain qualities we should share with all those who follow God. Traits such as honesty, integrity, generosity, and love to both Christians and non-christians, just like Jesus did.
Every once in a while (usually before a new year), I think back on my life and then look to the future. I find those traits that I wouldn’t like to take into the new year, the ones that don’t reflect Jesus’ character, and I work on erasing them. At first, it’s a bit difficult, but with prayer, it gets easy, and before I know it, that flaw or character trait becomes a thing of the past. I believe it works that way with everyone. Just ask God to help you develop qualities more like His.
Character is of the heart and is what really matters as God’s major focus is our hearts. Reputation is what men and women think of us. So here’s the thing, it is better to please God than man because when our hearts are right with Him we gain favour in His sight and I can’t think of anything in the world that could profit a human better.
By Gift