The Priority is Truth

2 Corinthians 13:7 KJV

Now I pray to God that ye do no evil; not that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates.

Paul's concern for holiness and perfection in the people of God was not for his own reputation but for the sake of truth, honesty and holiness. He, like all of us, wished to be well thought of. But his first concern was for the truth, whether or not he was thought to be a reprobate.

·       They could think well of him and that would bless his soul or

·       They could think poorly of him, and he would have preferred otherwise

But either way his duty and responsibility was toward the truth

We are prone, I think, to put more stock in our reputation than we ought. The priority is toward the truth.