Defending Your Reputation | Joel Osteen

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We all have a desire to have a good reputation. We know how important it is.
Our reputation goes before us. He can open doors and cause the right people to come.
The scripture says a good name is worth more than great wealth. But what happens when you’re being your best?
You’re honoring god, but other people do things to tarnish your reputation.
Say things that are not true, take things out of context to try to make us look bad, slander, innuendos, rumors.
We weren’t there to defend ourselves. We couldn’t tell our side of the story.
Now they’ve done something that lessens our credibility, makes people have a wrong opinion of who we are.
It’s tempting to try to straighten people out, prove to them that what they’re saying is not correct.
But if you get on that treadmill, you’ll never get off.
Because there will always be someone saying something not true, mischaracterizing what you did, questioning your motives, Here’s the key.
You have to put your reputation in god’s hands. Let him defend you. Let him be your vindicator.
The scripture never tells us to guard our reputation. It says guard your heart.
And if you’re trying to guard your reputation, you’re going to be worn out. That’s not your job.
Leave your reputation in god’s hands. He knows how to change people’s minds.
He knows how to silence negative voices, He knows how to cause you to be seen in the right light.
He hears everything said about you.
He sees when people are mischaracterizing you, on purpose, trying to make you look bad, questioning your motives.
Nothing goes unnoticed. But the mistake we make is we get into fight mode. That’s not right.
I have to fix everything, but trying to fix it is only gonna make it worse.
Once you fix this person, something else will come up.
Then another and another, it takes all the pressure off when you put your reputation in god’s hands.
We think, well, Joel, if I can straight them out, I can let them know what they’re saying is not true, that I really am a good person, then that’ll fix it.
But the problem is some people don’t wanna understand you.
If you did everything they asked, if you changed and became who they want you to be, they’re still going to find fault.
They’re determined to misunderstand you. You have to accept that they’re not going to be for you, and that’s okay.
You don’t need them to fulfill your destiny. Here’s a bigger one.
They don’t have to be quiet for you to reach your potential.
They may keep spreading lies, slandering, putting you in a bad light, but they cannot stop your purpose.
They don’t have that much power.
If you don’t understand this principle, you live upset, mad at them, think it a ways you can shut them down.
That’s not your job. Your job is to guard your heart.
Don’t let the offense, the bitterness, the poison, get in you.
You do your part, and god will do his part. He’ll take care of your reputation.
And sometimes, he’ll stop the negative things being said. He’ll turn things around and vindicate you.
Other times, he’ll let them keep talking, keep stirring things up, but no matter what they say, it doesn’t harm you.
He makes them ineffective. They’re making all this noise, trying to discredit you, what they said, what they did, should have caused others at work to look down on you.
Shooter kept you from the project, but god took away all the steam. He took away all the power.
Now there’s just a bunch of irrelevant noise nobody that matters pays attention to them.
That’s why you have to let god do it his way. He may not stop what they’re doing.
He may not shut them up. He may cause you to shine in the face of what they’re doing.
Sometimes that’s a bigger miracle. All this negative chatter about you, people at work, maybe at school, trying to make you look bad, saying things that are not true, But in spite of all that, you keep excelling, you keep growing, you keep being good to people, you keep seeing favor and promotion.
God knows how to take care of your reputation.
David said, god prepares a table before us in the presence of our enemies.
We think, god, just get rid of my enemies, shut them up, change their mind, show them that they’re wrong.
God says, no, I have a better way I’m gonna promote you while they’re still talking.
I’m gonna honor you while they’re still making fun.
I’m gonna lift you up while they’re doing their best to push you down.
You don’t have to spend your energy trying to guard your reputation. Spend your energy guarding your heart.
Not taking debate. When people are trying to make you look bad, saying things behind your back, little innu windows, or he just plays up to the boss.
He’s not that talented. I heard she’s running around with that guy. You can’t stop that.
You can’t make people do what’s right? If you put out one rumor, there’s gonna be 3 more pop up.
Why are you wasting time and energy on something you can’t change? That’s not your job. That’s god’s job.
Your reputation is in his hands. He said, touch not my anointed. You are his anointed.
He knows when someone’s slandering you, mischaracterizing on purpose, spreading rumors.
You stay on the high road, and at the right time, god will vindicate you. He’ll defend your reputation.
Let me tell you, nobody can fins you like our god. I hope you enjoyed watching this clip.
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