How Do People Know You?

2 Corinthians 3:2 "Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men."

Everyone is known in some way to others. According our text verse, others are reading your life. As they watch, they are reading your motives and deeds as either good or evil. We are all known for something. How are you viewed by the majority of those who live and work around you? Do they see you as a godly person or an ungodly person? Do they see you as a peacemaker or a troublemaker? Do they see you serving the material or the spiritual? Let’s consider several men in the Bible and see how they were known, as others observed their lives. There is the positive side of their lives but they were known in negative ways as well.

(1) Solomon was known for worldliness to Some, and wisdom to others.

He was a wise man in many ways, but he was also a worldly man. According to I Kings 11:3 he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines. The result of having so many wives turned his heart from the Lord. He became mindful of pleasure and possession. When anything comes before God there will be trouble.

(2) Abraham was known for faith to some and for falsehood to others.

The story in Genesis 12:11-20 tells it all. Abraham lied in this respect, he told Pharoah his wife, Sarah, was his sister. Some good folks lie, if there is enough pressure put upon them to do it. Colossians 3:9 states we are to "lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds." It pays to always tell the truth. God will bless the upright!

(3) Jonah was known for dedication to some and for disobedience to others.

He seemed to be dedicated to the people of Israel and hard hearted against their enemies. What we remember most about Jonah is how he ran from his spiritual responsibility (Jonah 1:3). His disobedience was more costly than imagined.

(4) Peter was known for devotedness to some and for denial to others.

Some remember repentant Peter preaching at Pentecost, while others remember his denial of the Lord as stated in Matthew 26:74.

(5) Judas was known for caring for money to some but for betraying Jesus to others.

He was the loyal treasurer of the disciples but turned Christ in to His enemies, betraying Him according to Matthew 26:21.

That's why God instructs us to do right that you may not be known for doing wrong! Yes, the Golden Rule still applies today and let's not forget it. If we do the wrong impression goes much farther than the right one.