The Measure of Character

At Ecclesiastes 7:1, Solomon said that "a name is better than good oil, and the day of death than the day of one's being born."    This was during a time when an abundance of oil was a symbol of prosperity.   To drive home the point, he suggested that merely having had the opportunity to build a good name for one's self, made the day of one's death more important than the day of their birth.     Our reputation is one of the most important assets that we will ever possess.   Although it is intangible, a reputation is very real and is formed by the way we treat the people around us.     

Jesus taught that we would eventually be judged by the way we treat the least of those around us, not by the way we treat him personally (Matthew 25:31-46).   This is the essence and essential message of Christianity (Matthew 7:12; Luke 6:31;Luke 10:27).   Fortunately, our salvation does not depend upon never making a mistake in life.  The important test of our character is determined by how we treat the people around us.  Especially the people who will never be in a position to help us.   

When someone takes on the mission to destroy someone else's reputation, their endeaver says more about them and their lack of character than the person they are seeking to hurt.   Competent people with the correct outlook on life are secure enough that they do not need to tear someone else down in order to feel good about themselves or the ones they are supporting.  Likewise, when we see a campaign largely built around the premise of smearing the other candidate's reputation, we should be wary, as that campaign likely does not have enough positive points to say about their own candidate. 

It is easy to talk about the importance of character or someone elses lack of it.    Living your life in a principle centered way, which puts the welfare of others above your own, is much more difficult.   Jay Leno once said that if he wanted to know what type of person his guests were, he would watch how they treated the paiges, janitors and others with menial jobs in the studio.   Some of his guests were always nice to Jay, but not always so nice to others.    

Therefore, when we need to judge someone's character, watch how they treat the "least of those" around them.    Watch what they say about their competitors and their willingness to destroy someone else's reputation for their own personal gain.   This is a true measure of character.