Nehemiah had completed the rebuilding of the walls around Jerusalem. He turned his attention to restoring order to the Temple of God. The Temple rebuild was going to need the right kind of people.
Nehemiah outlines who he selected and why. “I put Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah the Levite in charge of the administration of the storehouses; and I appointed Hanan (son of Zaccur, son of Mattaniah) as their assistant. These men had an excellent reputation, and their job was to make an honest distribution to their fellow Levites” (Nehemiah 13:13).
He needed men of ‘excellent reputation.’ Why? They where going to distribute to their fellow Levites what was needed. This distribution had to be done honestly. The value of an excellent reputation ought to be treasured.
Everyone has a reputation. It is for each person to make a conscious effort to build their reputation so it might be excellent. An excellent reputation results in responsibility and trust. The better your reputation the more opportunity you will have.
Your reputation is built on consistent action. It is constructed through dependability, trustworthiness, preparedness, and genuine relationships. People know you can be counted on. You will do what you say.
A reputation is what you’re known for. It is who you are in difficult times. An excellent reputation represents itself. It needs no one to defend it.
There are times when others may wish to ruin your reputation. You never build a reputation on the defense. You build it on offense. You remain the same in every situation. When people speak unkindly of you, those who know you, know that what is being said does not reflect you at all.
I have told my kids, now grandkids, regularly, “You cannot control what others say about you. You can only control if what they say is true.” An excellent reputation is controlling the truth of what is said.
Be a person of excellent reputation. Don’t shy away from intentionally building such a reputation.