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Integrity
By Mike James
Integrity can mean any of the following: uprightness, virtue, honesty, soundness, uninjured state and completeness. As we take a closer look at the meaning of these words we will find many of them mentioned in the Bible.
The first synonym of integrity we will address is uprightness. Psalm 25:8 tells us God is good and upright. Proverbs 16:17 mentions the upright depart from evil. Virtue can be defined as strength or manliness, moral excellence and chaste. Someone with virtue is not going to waver when they make a tough decision. Jesus Christ is the ultimate example of someone with virtue. His life epitomized virtue. First Timothy 2:2 teaches we should lead a life of godliness and honesty. Philippians 4:8 admonishes us to think on honest things. Honesty is integral to integrity. When you are dishonest or lie, you are tearing a hole in the relationship you have with the person you are lying to, and you also open up a hole in your own psychological relationship as well. “One of the most painful experiences in my life was being lied to by someone I was in love with.” Honesty can hurt at times, but the pain from dishonesty lasts a much longer time. The prophet Isaiah gives us a great example about the lack of soundness in Isaiah 1:6. Isaiah describes a body with no soundness as being full of wounds, bruises and sores. Therefore, a healthy body could be understood as having integrity. In Psalm 38:3-7, we learn that sin can lead to a lack of soundness. Sin can break down our soundness not only physically, but also mentally and spiritually. When Christian’s sin, they are lacking integrity because they are not being true to their number one commitment—God. | |
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I once heard integrity described this way. Let’s say we have two balloons. One of the balloons has a large gaping hole in it, and the other has a “pin-hole.” The first balloon with the large hole can never hold any air because the air will escape as fast as you fill the balloon.
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The other balloon will fill with air, but in a matter of moments it will quickly lie flat. The point is one balloon was really out of integrity (big hole), and the other just a little. But even when we are out of integrity just a little, the danger of losing everything over time is still there. Now some will say it is impossible to always have complete integrity. That is true, but as Christians we have something that plugs up the holes. That is Jesus Christ in you. Without Jesus and His sacrifice for us we would have no integrity. Another word I really like to use for integrity is completeness. God shows us He is complete in many ways. One of these ways is by keeping His word. God has already fulfilled many Old Testament prophecies. This is an example of being complete. Have you ever promised someone you would call or visit them and then failed to do it? How did you feel when you realized you did not complete on your word? If you are like me, you probably had an uneasy feeling about your lack of integrity. Remember though, we are made complete by Christ (Colossians 2:10). Since integrity is such a hard thing to keep, how can we live with more integrity? Well let me tell you the story of the flat roof on the first house I bought. You may not know this, but flat roofs have much more trouble with their integrity because when it rains water will lay on the roof for a much longer period of time than a sloped roof. Each spring I had to get on my flat roof and roll a coat of liquid aluminum on it to protect my roof from the rain that would fall. The gutters had to be cleared of the leaves and twigs to make sure the water came off the roof easily. If I did not put in the time to maintain my roof, it would begin to lose its integrity faster. The same thing is true for us in our Christian walk. We have to put the time into prayer, Bible study, fasting, fellowship, and good deeds in order to maintain our integrity as Christians. By putting on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18) you will be able to maintain your integrity. i | |