Character
Reputation grows like a mushroom; character grows like an oak. (William Hershey Davis, late Greek scholar)
It takes many years for an acorn to develop into a full-grown, strong oak tree. Many other trees may grow much more quickly, but never become stable. Character is like that. It takes life’s experiences and trials over a lot of time to establish character, but the strength they develop is both fruitful and long-lasting.
Consider it pure joy . . . whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance (James 1:2-3).