You are called to the highest of ideals. Believe things like "death to self" and "the last shall be first," a times we grapple and struggle almost constantly with living lives of integrity. Unfortunately, there are countless examples of leaders who suffered great falls where it was made clear that their private lives look vastly different from the carefully curated lives they lived in front of their audiences.
But God calls us to another way. So what does integrity really look like?
There are a handful of proverbs that mention integrity in certain translations, but most of them are of the "it's good to have integrity because those without it are wicked".
Crucified thy flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit". Such a list is a command to live a life of the highest integrity, a life that brings goodness and blessings to all people.
Integrity is a life marked by love, compassion, mercy, justice, and honoring God's call above everything else.
"Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. They must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil".
That definition of integrity calls us to walk in the path of the son of God, and to steer clear of hypocrisy.
A Life That Matters
When pressed, I suspect many people want to live a life that matters. It's not a bad wish, by any means.
For many people (myself included), a life that matters seems to mean important meetings with important people making important decisions. However, this is not the life to which God calls many of us. To be sure, there are some who are called by God to do important things with integrity, but many people have mistakenly equated goodness with greatness. And that can lead to a life or ministry where someone knows all the right things to say, do, or write to gain a following, but everyday life isn't really impacted.
Let me be clear: If you're in charge of a ministry or a small group, or in any kind of leadership for that matter, but everyone around you thinks you're a jerk, you're not living with integrity.
Obviously, God can use broken people and broken ministries however he sees fit. People living with no integrity can still be used by God for incredible things—even church leaders who have fallen the farthest and hardest have likely still told someone the truth of God. But that doesn't let us off the hook. God doesn't care how "big" or "small" our lives are, only that we are living lives that are filled with the integrity he commands. It doesn't matter to God if you're a famous person or if the only people who have heard of you are in your community. What matters to God is that you're living with integrity to the commands he has given you. That might mean you become a great leader with a huge following, or it might mean you live a quiet life being the best wife, father, or employee you can possibly be.
So how can we live a life of integrity?
-We must accept God's call to live in his will and walk in the footsteps of Christ.
-We must live the kind of life that the son of God lived, even if no one is watching you.
-We must obey the command of James 1:22:
"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." It's simple, and it's difficult. And it's all that God asks.
Ryan Hamm
@RyanECHamm.
ChristianBibleStudies.com.
www.stoneorigin.net
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