ReputationSample

Reputation. It’s a Taylor Swift song, yes. It’s a powerful word and oftentimes a very powerful piece in our lives.

What is your reputation? Can reputations change? How does my reputation effect those around me? We’re going to dive in and answer these questions while walking through the story of Paul, a guy who had a “big reputation”.

What do you want to be known for? Maybe you want to be known for being a good listener, a funny friend, an accomplished athlete or musician. The way we answer this question often determines how we try to earn our reputation.

We earn our reputations. It’s true. Through our actions, attitudes, words, it all comes together to create the way people perceive us.

However, reputations aren’t always good. People have all sorts of reputations. This person is known to gossip about their friends. That person is known to cheat on tests. Another person is known to treat their parents really poorly.

We don’t WANT to be known for the less than stellar stuff we do, but when we continue to make poor choices, that is sometimes a consequence of our actions.

The passage we are going to read today reminds us that being known for being good is more desirable than riches. A good reputation, being known to help people, being kind, loving our neighbors, is much more satisfying than a pile of money.

But what if you have a “bad reputation”? Can you change it? Why does it matter? We’re going to explore it all in this plan.