Good or bad reputation

It is not easy to build a good reputation. It may take years. However, you can lose it all in one moment. The cause can be your own or others. Many fall because of moral failure. One of the biggest one is not sexual impropriety, but corruption. Someone creates a situation where they say you can make easy money. They create a nice little scam and you become a big beneficiary of the scam. Of course the lion share goes to the originator of the scam. But still other times your reputation is damaged by unscrupulous people.

Ezra 4:12, Let it be known to the king that the Jews who came up from you have come to us at Jerusalem, and are building the rebellious and evil city, and are finishing its walls and repairing the foundations.

The inhabitants of Judah get jealous with the rebuilding of the temple and they write to the king of Persia. They managed to convince the king and stall the rebuilding. How can this be? Is not God in control? After all, this is His house. The story does not stop here. But the lesson learned in this chapter is that we can expect our reputations to be unfairly attacked when sincerely doing God's work. Don't be troubled. God is still very much in charge.

Father, my reputation is not in the hands of man, but in the hand of God.

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Sreedhar's Journey

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