Integrity is vital to our walk with God, and true and honest relationships with others. If we don’t have and can’t commit to having integrity we are not a very nice person. Maybe mankind will like how we act and our character we allow them to see…but God sees and hears everything and integrity is important to Him. You might even seem peculiar to people in the world if you have some integrity.
Our character is always important to God and it should be important to us as well. What holds us up when we run into life’s battles and the stuff that is thrown out there to us? All the storms of life we most likely will face in our lifetime…how will we choose to be? Our character should more and more look like the character that Jesus had and is always an example for us. We are to use all the good in His life and be more and more like Him each day.
When we don’t work towards integrity and being like Jesus what we are is weak. The Bible’s word for character simply means we are to be whole, to be working on becoming more and more complete in the eyes of God and not in the eyes of mankind. I need a solid foundation and so do you. Jesus is my foundation and my Rock and in Him I don’t have to shift anymore.
I have found that in being a Christian no matter what is going on in the world around me…I can be certain of who I am in Christ, and the more I know Him personally…the more I love Him and want to please Him over pleasing anyone else. If I am right with Him then I will work towards having a good character of integrity. I want to live a life that is clean, whole, and pure. I don’t want any hidden agendas going on in my heart. If we don’t live like He tells us to then we are living like the world wants us to. The world is not run by God…you do know that don’t you? The devil is out there and the devil and his co-horts will do whatever they can to get you to destroy your integrity and live for the things of this world.
We are not to run off of feelings for feelings change like the wind. God wants to equip each of us believers with tools we can use not only to make it through our life, but to live a life that pleases Him. No matter who does wrong we are to trust God and do our best to live more and more like Him and the great examples He gave to us.
We, as humans, don’t always have great character even when we think we do. However, don’t you ever give up. Keep working towards having a godly character and doing whatever God wants you to do. Isn’t it time to allow God to really be the Potter and you the clay so He can mold you, and take out whatever flaws you might have to make you important, in His eyes for the kingdom of God?
So Let’s begin: How important to you is your integrity? Well, here is what the Bible says: “The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him” Proverbs 20:7
As I look around America and the world today I don’t see much integrity going on out there. Oh, there are great people and many who have integrity, but there are more who have none or very little. We need to find out what we have and if it doesn’t line up with God…then it is not God who needs to be changing…it is us. Let us each learn how to change and be equipped with what and how God wants us to be and to live.
First, integrity is “the condition or quality of being complete; undivided or unbroken; wholeness.” Second, integrity is “an unimpaired condition.” The third definition is, “moral soundness or uprightness.” It is a moral framework so what you do in this life matters. If your life is not framed correctly then your framing is all wrong. We need to be working on pureness in our heart and living more and more as God wants us to do and less and less like the world wants us to.
When we are living morally we will have the foundation to withstand whatever the world tosses our way and we will get through the storms. Oh, we might get tossed to and fro…for a season, but we can get through the storms of life.
Knowledge is a good thing and as Christians we are to desire God’s knowledge, but the more we ask of God in this…we are to use that knowledge to be better and do better.
Our character is who we really are, while our reputation is who or what others want to think we are. There will always be people who don’t like us and those that wish us bad and say bad things about us. However, is it really them you want to please or is it God you want to please?
Mankind, as I look around today, wants comfort over character. They want all the latest “stuff” and many will do anything to get it. Many of these people don’t care about their character and very few care who they step on to get the things they want.
When I asked God into my life what I was really asking Him is to fix/mend me and make me more and more like Him. I wanted Him to transform me and begin whatever process He needed to make me so that one day I can go to heaven and be with Him, but also while on this earth I could live a life that pleased Him no matter what others might think of me, or even do to me.
My character and commitment to Him is what my life is really about. Without Jesus who am I? Where will I end up? Who would I turn to in my hours of need or the struggles of life that I have had to face or the ones yet to come? The conversion of my soul from before and after asking Jesus into my life is truly a miracle.
Life is tough and who can truly say otherwise? Stuff happens in life that we wish we would not go through or see. Many people are just mean and nasty and have no godly character at all. I don’t want to be like that, and yes, before meeting and falling in love with my Jesus…I can tell you that I would not like me much seeing that person now. Jesus changes our heart and wants us to do better, be better, and to become more like Him no matter what we face here on this earth until He comes for us.
Jesus was the only perfect man who ever lived but we are to be more and more like Him. This side of glory He is still working on mending us and getting us to be better. Let Him work on you.
There is a story in the Bible regarding the integrity of Joseph who had gotten to Potiphar’s house. (Genesis 29:1-12). It is a great story of the integrity of Joseph. Potiphar’s wife wanted Joseph to sleep with her while her husband was not there. Joseph was good looking and how much of a temptation was this for him. He said no…he would not do that against Potiphar and especially against God. She didn’t like that and told her husband a lie….Joseph was arrested and put into prison. He was falsely accused…yet he kept his integrity and that is what we are to do as well. No matter what people say…you stay true to God and do as He says to do. Keep your integrity in tack because it is the right thing to do.
So in looking around today you be honest here…what do you see when it comes to people’s integrity? I would actually like to see the real person I deal with to see how they really are when they don’t think someone sees what they do, go, read, watch, and listen to. Who are they? Do they even care about what they feed their mind and life with?
There are so many people out there that lack integrity. How? Well, some in marriage, some at their work place, some in government, and many in church as well. Who is being honest about themselves and who they are and what they believe?
What might you personally need to work on when it comes to integrity?
Do you keep your promises/word? When you say something do you actually do it? If something, in your opinion comes up you’d rather do, do you do that or do you do what you promised someone you would do?
Do you keep your appointments? When you make that commitment to do something even if it is for you or a family member or friend…do you do it or do you make excuses?
Before saying you will do something do you stop and think about what you are saying you will do or won’t do? You don’t have to be a people pleaser, but you should work on being a God pleaser. If you can’t do something just say no…that you can’t do it. If you can do it then do it.
What do you personally need to do right now, and in the near future ,that will develop your integrity? We all mess up in life. We say things, we do things, we act badly, we lash out when we shouldn’t, but do we ever really try to fix the situation and say we are sorry for our actions and then try to change ourself so we don’t continue along that line?
I know me and you know you. Do you want to hang out with people who have no integrity in their life? I don’t. This is about being honest. Oh, I’d try but if someone keeps acting badly and doesn’t want to change then why would I want to hang out with them? We are not to go on making excuses for bad behavior and for evil people. Who we decide to hang out with matters. I saw these questions and wrote them down. They are worth asking yourself.
- Am I Leading by example? Is Jesus my example?
- Am I taking 100% responsibility for what I am and what I am doing?
- Am I willing to risk being wrong?
- Am I willing to say I am sorry and make amends?
- Am I willing to say what I’m thinking even if someone is offended?
- Do I want my child or someone else I love to do that? If not, then why am I doing it?
- Does this conduct make me a better person?
Isn’t it time to change? Isn’t it time to give priority to what the word of God says? Shouldn’t we be zealous for the Lord? Shouldn’t we be honest and trustworthy even when we know someone else is not?
So what are the components for being a good person with integrity?
Compassion, Courage, Faithfulness, Gratefulness, Holiness, Honesty,
Honor and Respect, Hospitality, Humility, Long suffering, Loyalty
Perseverance, Servanthood, Stewardship, Temperance, Temperance, and
Vision
If one is honest here…they will see some of this in your life needs some work. God’s not through with me and I hope never is. Whatever it takes to become what God wants me to be I am willing to learn.
Some of the list is towards God, some towards ourself, and some towards others. We need all of these things in our life to have total integrity.
With no foundation in our life of integrity our foundation is not very solid. It is like building our home on sand and not a firm foundation. It might look good on the surface but underneath it needs a lot of work and fixing. We can build a home with all the stuff, the money, the toys, but without the foundation being our Rock Jesus…it is build wrong and will crumble if under pressure. Let each of us look to see whose foundation our life is actually built on and what we need to do in our life to fix the cracks in our foundation.
Our structure needs built on and by Jesus and the Holy Spirit working in and through us. Some think that their money, their looks, their fame is all they need in life. How wrong they are. When one comes to the end of their life…they will stand before God even if right now they say they don’t believe or care. They will care and they will stand before the only honest Judge. You can’t con God and if you have not changed to His liking by the time you take your last breath, and if He is not your Lord and Savior by your choice…you won’t get into heaven. People can tell you all they want about God wouldn’t keep you from heaven and you are a good person in your eyes and maybe other people’s eyes…but that is not the criteria for heaven. Heaven belongs to God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They don’t have to let you in because you think you are a good person. Who is Jesus to you? What are you willing to do or not do in life for Him? Is He your everything or are you playing games? Going to church doesn’t save you…Jesus does! You can’t earn your way to heaven either. Jesus offers you a way to heaven, and He surely loves you…but it is up to you to decide if He is your Lord and Savior or if He is not. You decide!
So now that this lesson is here…do you need to do anything to change you. God doesn’t change…it is you and I who must change to suit Him, and not Him to suit us. My prayer is that both you and I think deeply on this subject, ask God to show us whatever we need to do to fix something in our life, and then we do it. I want to please God more than I want to please mankind. May you also feel that way and get whatever in your life right with God. Integrity is vital to our walk with God. In the next lessons we will discuss other aspects of our walk and life with God.
Now, may God bless you, keep you, draw you, teach you, show you the way, take things out of your life that should not be there, and put things in your life that should be there. Don’t give up. Begin your walk with the Lord today. God bless you!