Sometimes writing such letters can be very easy. A person is well known by the letter writer, so glowing and truthful remarks seem to flow onto the page.
Sometimes writing such letters can be a chore – often for a variety of reasons. Perhaps the person who has requested such a letter is not well known. Perhaps the person being referred hasn’t had much life experience. Or perhaps the person being written about is simply a scoundrel and kind words are hard to find.
A little joke that has been around for some time shows how one might be colorful in the way negative information could be handled.
The Smiths were proud of their family tree. Their ancestors had come to America on the Mayflower. The family later included senators and Wall-Street wizards.
They decided to compile a family history, a legacy for their children and grandchildren. They hired a well-known author. Only one problem arose – how to handle the fact that great-uncle George was executed in the electric chair.
The author said he could handle the story tactfully. The book was finally published. In it the author had this to say about great-uncle George: “Great-uncle George occupied a chair of applied electronics at an important government institution, was attached to his position by the strongest of ties, and his death came as a great shock.”
When it comes to being a disciple of Jesus Christ, what kind of a recommendation would someone write for you? Would a recommendation flow seamlessly onto the page with truthful and glowing remarks? Or would someone have to spin a letter, making you sound better than you are?
Live with your integrity intact and no one will ever be able to truthfully say an unkind word about you, nor struggle to find good things to say about you.
As the Apostle Paul said in his second letter to the Thessalonians, “To this end we always pray for you, asking that our God will make you worthy of his call and will fulfill by his power every good resolve and work of faith, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
