Just to balance that up, I want to bring another scripture...
Proverbs 22:1 – “A good name is to be chosen, rather than silver or gold”.
There are two things that are more precious in God's eyes than silver and gold: a good name; and good favour.
In that verse, a good name is to be chosen, rather than great riches; and loving favour, rather than silver or gold.
A good name means your reputation - how you lived your life, your character, what people say about you. The Bible says that a good name is more important than money.
Many people compromise their reputation and character; they cheat, they lie, do all kinds of things, and in the end they have neither a good name, nor money; because there's something about corrupt behaviour that causes money to flee from you.
When your name is mentioned, what do people think?
When you think of Abraham, immediately you think: faith. With Moses, we think: deliverance; or bringing the nation of Israel free. Noah lived a godly life in his generation, and had an impact. Paul – when you think of these names, you think of something.
Mother Theresa - you think of some things; not about her life, and all that she lived, but what she did with her life that left her great reputation - because she did what she could to advance the kingdom of God.
Nelson Mandela, every one of these names, the moment the name is mentioned - something about that person comes into your mind.
Notice it's not the money? Abraham was extremely rich, but when we think of Abraham we don't think of the money. We think of what got him the money - his faith.
Mandela, he was President of South Africa - but it was more than that. At the mention of his name, you think of his character - that coming out of prison he had a spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation.
Oscar Pistorius - that's a guy accused of killed his wife; so associated with a name is usually some kind of characteristic. If you think of Hitler, immediately you think of someone who committed genocide.
So your name, when it's mentioned, will conjure up something in people's minds. They'll have thoughts of what you were like, or how they have experienced you. So when people talk about you, and your name is mentioned, what comes up?
Is it your godly lifestyle and godly choices that come up? Not everyone's happy about that of course, but does it come up?
Apart from a good name, the second thing to be desired is: favour; or: loving kindness with God and with people.
Luke 2:52 – “Jesus increased in favour with God and with man”.
That is to be valued more than silver and gold: loving kindness; and favour with God and with people. He increased.
Philippians 2:9-10 – “God has exalted Jesus, and given Him a name which is above every other name”.
At the end of His life, Jesus had a good name, and loving favour. He sought out a good name, by obedience to God and living the life of faith; and He sought out loving favour by walking with God. He found favour with God, and favour with man.
Did people hate Him? Yes, they did. Did they put Him to death? Yes, they did. But what name gets you into heaven? The name of Jesus!
What do we remember when we think of the name Jesus? We think about the things that He did, the life He lived, what He left, and the legacy that He has left us.
The second one is family experiences...
Proverbs 24:3 – “Through wisdom is a house built”.
Making good and godly decisions is how you build a family life. The Bible says, concerning a house: “unless the Lord builds the house, they labour in vain that build it”.