Let him who thinks he stands
take heed lest he fall.
—1 Corinthians 10:12
The street outside my window has become a magnet for speeding bikers—Daytona 200 wannabes. They blow by in a blur, some riding double, neither wearing a helmet. More than once, I’ve thought, “Your life can be ruined by one stupid decision.”
That’s true of a lot of things, including reputation.
The morning of moral wreckage begins calmly, nothing to distinguish it from any other day. But in an unguarded moment, the gust of temptation blows in and the previously unsoiled falls—ruined by one stupid decision.
As Francis Bacon once asked: “Who can see worse days than he that, yet living, doth follow at the funeral of his own reputation?”
An earlier and greater voice said: “Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”
Guard your character and your
reputation will take care of itself.