On Father’s Day, I was thinking of my dad.

I was blessed to have had a good dad, and I am grateful for that. He was a Baptist pastor, so I grew up listening to him speak often, typically twice every Sunday and once on Wednesday.

One of the Bible verses I remember him quoting frequently is Proverbs 22:1. He used the King James Version: “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.”

I was not always glad Dad was a preacher, but I was never embarrassed by his character or actions. That is a gift!

This nugget of wisdom from the Bible resonates with us because we have probably all experienced the opposite. We have known people who have put money above character.

It is not pretty. Perhaps you have been lied to or cheated by someone who wanted to make a buck. If so, you most likely will deal with that person as little as possible going forward.

His/her name is “mud” for you, as we sometimes say.

That person has to live with the consequences of those actions; a guilty conscience and alienation from people.

Sometimes businesses fail because a proprietor develops a bad reputation.

For those of us who seek to influence people and our world for the good, we need to maintain a positive reputation. If people cannot trust us, we can’t accomplish much.

So, how do we build and maintain a good name?

The basis for a good reputation is integrity. That begins with being honest. Our culture seems to have normalized lying. Since trust is the foundation for any relationship, dishonesty is terribly destructive.

Closely related to honesty is reliability or trustworthiness.

Another saying from my dad was one he got from his dad: “If you tell someone you are going to do something, you do it, even if it takes the shirt off your back.”

That kind of follow-through makes a difference.

Practicing humility is another way we can build a good name. When we take a genuine interest in others and take time to listen to them more than talking about ourselves and our interests or we help them in some way, it helps remind ourselves that it isn’t all about us.

Generosity is the best cure for greed. As we give of our time, talent, and resources we are helping others, but we are also developing character for ourselves and serving as a positive role model for others.

Generosity of spirit is just as important. Being gracious rather than harsh or judgmental is a true gift for those around us.

We all fall short and our failures can make it difficult to rebuild our reputation. It can be done, however, one step and one day at a time. A really good way to help avoid the things that damage our name and to make choices consistently that strengthen our reputation is to take a daily wisdom vitamin.

I mean by that, if you read a proverb a day from the book of Proverbs you will read the entire book in a month.

Each day you can point your mind and attitude in the right direction for wise living. Who couldn’t use more of that?

Proverbs 16:16 (NIV) says it this way; “How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding rather than silver!”

Jeff Fugitt is the pastor of Cassville United Methodist Church, located at 601 Gravel Street in Cassville. He may be reached at 417-847-2328 or cassvilleumcpastor@gmail.com.