Love is not a feeling but an action. When we love our neighbors as ourselves, we treat everything about them as valuable as we would anything of our own. What if that included, not just their stuff but also their reputation? Do I guard my neighbor’s name as something as precious as I would my own?
A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold. Proverbs 22:1
A good reputation is both valuable and fragile and our words can build up or tear down. When a person is brought up in conversation, I have a choice to either point out a flaw or to highlight something positive. Since I want to be given the benefit of the doubt, I need to give others a favorable filter as well. The tongue is like a fire and I have the power to taint someone’s reputation or protect it.
Think of a time when someone you care about was mentioned. Were you eager to point out something great about them? Were you defensive for them if the conversation was negative? Of course! Loving our neighbor requires the same determination.
But only a reputation built on truth will stand over time. I need to be FOR my neighbor – for his success, for his right choices, for his good character – so that a good reputation is rightly deserved. Guarding a reputation might actually mean hard conversations but the goal must be to achieve a good name. This isn’t about concealing sin, which could lead to its continuance, but encouraging and supporting others to live up to the good name God offers us.
Protecting or building someone up is natural when they are easy to love. We do it without thinking. But true love says we must esteem even the stranger or the difficult to love as we would our self. Those that I might disagree with can still be treated with respect – even on social media. I need to treat their name with dignity and through the best light possible. We can disagree, even wrestle and debate (in fact, seeking truth demands this), yet the goal is to build and not destroy.
If I consider my neighbor’s reputation as precious as my own, I will protect it from harm. I will build in to his or her success and when achieved, I will not be envious but will openly celebrate it as I would my own. Lord, give me words of support and encouragement for all who pass my way. Help me cherish my neighbor's name.
Above all, continue loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8
