If we stepped outside the mall and found our car gone, how would that impact us? What would we lose besides our car? Trust? Security? Belief in others?
It is even more devastating when we have our identity stolen, for with it goes our good name.
There are many ways to lose our good name. Think about spyware. These programs can be loaded into our phones, recording the numbers we dial and the actual words we speak. Using this technology, people can steal our information, our identity, and our good name.
Have you ever had a friend borrow money from you? Did they repay you in a timely manner? How did it affect your view of them? Did it raise your opinion of them or lower it?
Several years ago a man who had recently gone through a divorce began a search for a new job, only to discover his ex-wife had forged his name on tax documents and credit applications. All her actions appeared on his credit report.
Her actions affected his good name, although he had nothing to do with them. Because his identity had been stolen, he lost his good name along with multiple job offers.
However, a good name will take us a long way.
We have to be aware of how to protect our good name. It is possible to restore a good name that has been tarnished. However, it is very difficult.
Zephaniah 3:20 gives us God’s promise, for he says he will make us a new name, and we will once again stand proud before the people.
If we begin to pay our bills on time, we’ve taken the first step in restoring our good name. If we volunteer in church and show up on time, we will reestablish our good name. Proverbs 8:12-18 tells us that with wisdom will come understanding and power, because through God, the rulers of earth rule, and through him, we receive all riches, honor, wealth, and success.
We can count on a good name if we do what we’ve said we’ll do.
We can also pray for those who have maligned our good name. Job had his good name stolen by the evil one, and when his friends comforted him, they blamed God for his misfortune. God chastised them for their words.
Then in Job 42:10, the Word tells us that when Job prayed for his friends, God accepted his prayer, and God returned Job’s good name, giving him twice what he had before.
A bad name will cause us grief all our days, but a good name will take us far.
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