Living It Down

April 25

(Acts 9:21 NIV)  "All those who heard him were astonished and asked, "Isn't he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn't he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?"

(Acts 9:26 NIV) “When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple.”

(Proverbs 22:1 NIV “A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.”

A bad reputation is hard to live down. Saul’s reputation caused fear instead of faith in the people he went to share his story with. You can’t blame them. He had done them harm. It took him a while to live that reputation down. The phrase “live it down”, is instructive. We speak about someone “living down” a reputation. The irony is that the reputation we must “live down” was usually obtained from what culture calls “living it up”. It can take years to “live it down” after some time of “living it up”. We end up being shackled by what we thought was freedom. What we thought would bring happiness, causes despair. Saul had a hard time living down his reputation -- so will we. Be careful about the reputation you are constructing through daily choices. One brick at a time, one day at a time, your reputation is being built. Work at building a reputation you won’t have to live down. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day