by Zana Reichen
Integrity – the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.
| Synonyms: | honesty, honor, good character principle(s), ethics, morals, righteousness, morality, virtue, decency, fairness, sincerity, truthfulness, trustworthiness
To be said of him/her: “I never doubted his integrity.” |
My pastor once gave this illustration: If I had found a fifty-dollar bill laying on the pulpit and several people were standing around talking, I would be inclined to ask, “Does this $50 belong to anyone?” Alternatively, if no one else were in the room and I had found that same bill, I could pocket the money and no one would know; but if I instead turned the money in, knowing it did not belong to me, THEN I would have personal integrity.
Having strong personal integrity means we do the right thing when no one is watching.
Dr. Jack Hyles once said, “I’ve had plenty of times in my travels when I could have done wrong or chosen unwisely, but I knew that when I got up the next morning, I wanted to look in the bathroom mirror and say, ‘I am shaving the face of an honest man this morning.’”
Job 2:3 – “And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.”
Psalm 7:8 – “The LORD shall judge the people: judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me.”
Psalm 25:21 – “Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on thee.”
Proverbs 11:3 – “The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them.” (This verse refers to those who deal deceitfully and unfaithfully.)
Let us notice the comparison above. Those void of integrity are “transgressors.”
As busy as our lives become in the day-to-day grind of life, it can be tempting to take shortcuts here and there, and perhaps deviate from that which we know is right just so that we can get everything done, or so some may think. We must not take shortcuts! It is so important to keep our personal integrity intact. When we stand in front of the mirror tomorrow morning to prepare for the day, will we be looking at an honest Christian? Does the person in the mirror have personal integrity?
Is it more important that we have an appearance of doing right and participating in Christian service rather than actually working toward making a difference in the lives of others?
When at our jobs, do we work hard to complete the tasks expected of us, or do we hope the boss does not notice when we are not completing assignments? Do we come in late or leave early without permission, hoping no one will notice?
People of integrity who are determined to do what is expected of them will do so in order to sleep in peace at night, so that they may look at a person in the mirror the next morning who is honest—a Christian of integrity.
Some who do wrong may say, “Well, everybody does it.” My response would be, “People with integrity do not!”
Sometimes those who love and pray for us think more highly of us than WE think of ourselves! WE are God’s children! WE should be people of integrity.
When we have personal integrity we will influence others to have personal integrity. On the other hand, if we do not have integrity or have weak personal integrity, others may tragically follow our lead. This could make us responsible to some degree for the mistakes of others. We could become a reason why some trip and fall when we fail to take the high road in the first place.
Every Christian is influencing others around them every second of every day!
If we can be honest when we are alone and do the right thing when nobody is watching, then we are being positioned to influence others for good and for God. Can we look in the mirror tomorrow morning and see an honest Christian looking back at us? Does the mirror reflect a Christian whose personal integrity is intact?
The God Who created us did so for a reason. He has a plan and a purpose for every one of us. God can do His work any way that He chooses! It is truly amazing and wonderful that He chose to do His work through human instruments such as us!
Psalm 25:21 – “Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on thee.”
We should desire to influence others to do right and not to take shortcuts in life. Most of all, let us do right because of the God we serve. Doing right out of fear of human authority is immature Christianity. Tomorrow is not promised to us, so let us do right now because God loves us in spite of our shortcomings, and we want to please Him with lives lived for Him.