Saturday, August 31st

D.L. Moody, an evangelist who pointed many to Christ in the 1800's once said, If I take care of my character, my reputation will take care of itself.  I've also read that your reputation is who others think you are while your character is who you really are.  It used to be that most teen girls cared about their reputation.  Even if they secretly behaved immorally, they tried to maintain a good reputation publicly.  I don't see that very frequently now; more often, I watch young ladies who, for the most part, have thrown caution to the wind and do not really care about their reputation.  They make statements like, I don't really care what anybody thinks; it's not their business anyway.  And, while certainly it's not anybody else's job to be our judge, when we've come to the point that we genuinely don't care what others think, we've likely gotten to the point that we're not concerned what God thinks either.   At the end of the day, it is to the Lord Jesus that we must give an account.  If we've spent our day building and maintaining solid character traits such as respect, honesty, determination, and diligence, then our reputation will certainly reflect that.  On the other hand, if we've spent our time trying to maintain the front of a good reputation without fortifying the foundation of that  reputation, our stronghold will fold.  The foundation of your reputation is your character, and if you build upon that, your reputation will honor God.

For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

Galatians 1:10

Scripture Reading for the Day:

Proverbs 31
John 1