Ecclesiastes 7:1
These are some of my ancestors. I'm on the far left. The three photos to my immediate right are my father's family. The four photos on the far right are of my mother's family. They've only been in America since the late 1800's/early 1900's. I've never heard any unfavorable stories about my mother's side of the family. I can't say the same about my father's. If my father's family suffered a loss of reputation it was not something I was aware of. But I can tell you I was not very proud of them. I've researched that side of the family back to the 1700's in an attempt to try to understand what led them to be less than honorable. They were slave owners in the 1700's and 1800's, and in the early 1900's all I will say is there was jail time involved. My generation in the family and the children born of it, though, have all been law-abiding, productive citizens. Sometimes bad examples spur us on not to be like them because we've seen the consequences first-hand. This is why I made sure my boys knew their heritage so they'd be more watchful not to repeat the unsavory parts of it. As Christians we have an even more important reason to guard our reputations. Just like we wouldn't want our children (or our parents) to embarrass us, we should be mindful of our behavior as Christians before the watching world.
