Thursday 26 May 2016

THE ROAD TO INTEGRITY


THE ROAD TO INTEGRITY
Proverbs 28:6
Proverbs 2:7-10

Only God’s Spirit can create integrity within us, but everything in the world can rob us of it. People and situations will intentionally and unintentionally corrupt and compromise our integrity. We aren’t born with a heart of integrity, and if we want it, we have to fight for it.
If we want to fight for deep-rooted integrity, it means that we must intimately know, understand, and love God’s truth. It’s this truth that develops wisdom in our lives and helps us discern and put into practice the standards and boundaries that form a heart of integrity.
To fight also means to surround ourselves with people who are always watching and holding us accountable. Sins multiply in silence and seem smaller with a lack of accountability. We are much more likely to continue to compromise when no one cares that we are doing it or will not find out. Accountability is hard, but is a key ingredient to taking responsibility for our actions and words.
Fighting for integrity will grow our capacity to face and change the obstacles that continually force us to compromise God’s truth. It makes it a little easier to not over-promise things, change jobs or find a different circle of friends.
Fighting doesn’t mean we will ever be perfect. We all fall down. We all make mistakes. No matter how much integrity we have, we will never be perfect. This is especially true in times of fear, disaster, and chaos when the temptation is even greater to make a wrong choice. The key is to take responsibility for your actions and own up to our mistakes. Having a heart of integrity helps us recognize mistakes and reach out for God’s grace and forgiveness.
Integrity is not something that you either have or don’t have; it’s a lifestyle that we must intentionally strive for. Be intentional about striving for God’s truth and wisdom. Fight against everything that tries to distract and rob us of integrity. Determine to run hard after the things that matter.


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Wednesday 25 May 2016

INTEGRITY

"What Is Integrity"
Integrity is hard to define. In the dictionary, it’s defined as “sticking to moral and ethical principles.” In everyday life, integrity is defined as being honest and trustworthy. If we base integrity off of these 2 definitions, we end up living our lives based on a moral truth of our choosing and hoping others see us as trustworthy and right. Both of these definitions are right, yet, at the same time, incomplete. Integrity is also so much more.
True integrity is simply this- living and speaking based on what God says is right. Integrity means basing our words and actions off of His principles and truth. Why is it based on God’s set of principles? He is the author of everything right and true. When we live our lives claiming that God is our creator, we have to understand that He created us to live based on His standards of truth.
He created us to receive our moral and ethical principles from Him. Any other place we find our values or truth is a man-made opinion, and therefore not true integrity. His truth is the only thing that will lead us to a life of integrity. So, living with integrity means saying yes to what God says is right and good, no matter the consequences.
Integrity is more precious than riches and more important than our comfort. Identifying and believing that God’s Word is the only standard by which to evaluate and develop our core values is the first step in developing integrity. Determine today to start opening your heart to a lifestyle of knowing what integrity is and where it comes from.

Scripture Reading: Psalms 15:1-5, Psalms 25:1-10