Integrity

Integrity

Proverbs 10:9
He who walks with integrity walks securely,
But he who perverts his ways will become known.

We always get found out! Or God will always know what we do whether we tell him or not.

Integrity

1.	adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.

2.	the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished: to preserve the integrity of the empire.

3.	a sound, unimpaired, or perfect condition: the integrity of a ship's hull.

Do you remember childhood. I am sure no matter what manner we were brought up, we all experienced it. The moment of truth. Hopefully as we have grown up, there are less and less of those moments. Unfortunately, I know quite a few adults that still put themselves in the position of lying or manipulating situations so that they may get ahead or come out looking better than the truth. It happens all the time.

I now that as a child I was the queen of manipulation and secrecy. Somehow, though, my secrets always became known. The consequences were so astounding that I would be good for a while until the emotions and discipline had become a distant memory and then I was back at it. As an adult, I find myself weighing the consequences more carefully. What I have to loose now is much bigger than a week without a phone or a month without sleepovers. Now, I have a few other factors in my life.

I am a Christian and I am called to higher standard of living than I was before. Not to be above others, but to live above reproach, to live with integrity.

My best example of this is gossip. I cannot tell you how many times I have been involved in gossip. I wish I could tell you that I have turned away more than participate. It is a process and the times that I hold my tongue or choose not to engage, are the times I walk straighter, hold my head up higher and feel less weight on my shoulders. On the other hand, the times I get right in the pit of the gossip circle are the times when I feel burdened with the thought of being found out, the times I walk a little to the left or right to avoid a possible exposure of my recent gossip fest. I also feel a great deal of guilt.

I remember when I was in High School. All the drama. I had a great friend that I loved dearly. Along came another peer who wanted a part of her life that I was used to spending with her. Before I knew it, the jealousy had kicked in and we were both carefully playing our cards to remain the best friend. One day, this girl decided to make up a lie about my friend at school that deeply hurt me. She asked me to call her in the afternoon when I got home from school. What I didn't know is that she put my best friend on the line who knew nothing about this lie that I had been told. So in my emotions and my frustrations I began to work things out with this other girl. All the while, my best friend was listening. It torched our relationship right then and there. It took almost 2 years for our relationship to come back together. Why, because the lies soon surfaced and she was found out. I had my chance to make things right and we began to spend more time with each other again. I was wrong to say what I had said, but I was also given the wrong information. So I learned that I must always go straight to the source and that the words I say will affect my relationships. What a lesson. People will choose to be in a relationship with me depending on how I relate with others.

So, am I a perfect example of a life full of integrity, absolutely not. I do know that we must work towards living a life above reproach and that it is difficult at times. The rewards outweigh the consequences though.

Psalm 7:8
let the LORD judge the peoples. Judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, according to my integrity, O Most High.

Look deep within yourself today, could you repeat the prayer above from Psalms? Are there some things you need to do today to help make your path a bit straighter? If you were judged on your integrity today, how would you fare?

Dear Lord, Ughhh. I praise you for your word. Thank you for giving me this moment, this time, to work things out in our relationship. Geeesh, I feel so happy at one moment and so sorry at the next. Will you please work in me so that I reflect integrity, so that there is nothing that will be found out along the way. Lord, I am so thankful for your friendship, I pray that I will grow closer to you and that others will see me as a woman of integrity, so that they may come to know you and reflect you as well.

Please pray for our state government. That their integrity would be above reproach. Isn't it true that things are found out on this level?