Integrity
A man who makes a vow to the LORD or makes a
pledge under oath must never break it. He must do exactly what he said he would
do. (Numbers 30:2).
A godly character starts by living as
people of truth. We are to keep promises because our promises are made to or
before, the Lord our God. We take more oaths than you realize: getting married we make promises, when we join a
church, we make promises, when we sign tax forms or other legal documents, we
swear we are being truthful. We make an
oath when we enter into a contract with someone. Because we belong to the God who is True, we are to honor Him, by
doing what we promised. How do we live a life of integrity and
faithfulness?”
Integrity (or the soundness of moral character)
is a problem today. Think about what we read and have seen in our experience
- Church leaders involved in a sexual
scandal
- Politicians who take bribes and commit indecent acts
- Employees who steal from their employers
- Students who cheat on exams
- Athletes who gain an edge through drugs
- Witnesses who lie on documents and in court
- People who claim to be Christians but can’t be trusted in business.
- Co-workers who never arrive to work on time (and often leave early).
- People who are prominent in a church but don’t live lives any
different from the pagans around them.[1]
Integrity is a problem, and it is an especially significant
problem for Christians. As representatives of Jesus Christ our inconsistency
and lack of integrity destroys our testimony before a watching world. Integrity is
measured by how we live by God’s
standards. That is not the way everyone defines integrity (which is where we
find our integrity crisis). To an increasing number of people in our society,
their standard of truth is “whatever works for me” or “whatever makes me happy
(in the moment).” For these people, they don’t see their actions (when they
lie, cheat, or act immorally) as a lack of integrity. In their minds, they are
entirely consistent
with their value system. They are doing whatever will gain them the most significant advantage or pleasures.
Christians must operate from a different reference point. There is a standard of truth; there is a right and a wrong;
that is the same for everyone. It does not change with the individual; it is
set by God. We find that standard of truth in the Bible. The Bible says the person of integrity is one who lives
consistently with God’s standards. They are people who DO what is right rather
than merely TALK about it. Take stock of your life today.
Honor God by being truthful. This is where integrity begins. May God bless you and keep you always.
Pastor Dimas
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