Character vs. Reputation

Character vs. reputation. Have you ever thought about what the difference is between your character and your reputation?  It’s something that has been quoted by greats like Thomas Paine (below), John Wooden and Abraham Lincoln. The definition walks a thin line between the two. So what is the more important trait to have: character or reputation.

As the statement by Thomas Paine says, our character is who we truly are and no one knows us better than God Himself. There is no hiding our true identities from the One who created us. I believe the Bible is also very clear that the spiritual realm, demons and angels, are all around us, just hidden to the human eye. So it makes sense that the omniscience God and the hidden spiritual world of angels would know who we really are.

Our reputation is based upon what we allow others to see of us. Our true selves are masked from the eyes of others as we sometimes put on a facade in their presence. This is where we get the word “hypocrite” from. It was a mask used in plays to hide the true identities of the actors. We have a tendency to do this in our own lives because we either want to portray something we are not or have to maintain something that people have become accustomed to believing in us.

A former football coach once made the statement, “your character is who you are in the dark.”  I’ve also heard it said the your character is who you are when no one is around. Both of those pretty much mean the same thing. Our concern should not be about our reputation because people are going to form opinions about us no matter what we do. Our concern should be what God knows about us because we will ultimately answer to Him for our actions. “So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.” - Romans 14:12.

Have a great day and God bless.