What are your first thoughts when you consider integrity? Honesty and truthfulness? Maybe, sincerity or consistency in one’s actions?
I often ponder these rare and genuine qualities of character that we rarely see in ourselves or others. Often as I dig deeper, I discover meanings and contexts that originally slipped my focus. Such is the case with integrity. In Hebrew the word meant to be morally whole and blameless. A life marked by integrity displays the qualities honesty, consistency, and uncompromising adherence to strong moral and ethical principles and values.
We find the integrity of Jesus caused even his enemies to take special notice.
“…Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth...”
Mark 12:14
Let’s take a second look at the things they noticed about Him. “You aren’t swayed by others.” What sways me? Am I swayed by friends, family, or social media? Am I influenced by status or power? Jesus was not! His strong moral and ethical principles caused Him to stand by His values. Do I teach truth — God’s truth — without compromise? Or am I tempted to waffle around others?
The Holy Spirit prompts me to ask these probing questions — not in condemnation but as a directive toward becoming more like Jesus. He gently but firmly asks me to search my conscience for truth beyond the obvious. All the while, He invites me (and us) to a better way of relating and living with Him and others.
Invitation
Yes, God invites us to move toward a greater level of integrity. And, for many good reasons!
- Psalm 25:21 — “May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope, Lord, is in you.”
- Proverbs 11:3 — “The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.”
- Proverbs 10:9 — “Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.”
- Psalm 26:1 — “Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.”
- Psalm 41:11-12 — “By this I know that you delight in me: my enemy will not shout in triumph over me. But you have upheld me because of my integrity, and set me in your presence forever.”
These verses contain but a snippet of God’s promises for protection, guidance, security, victory over our enemies, and His very Presence. They all hinge on possessing integrity. If there was nothing more, this alone would be enough to pursue integrity.
The rarity of something often makes it even more valuable. So it is with integrity. So rare was it in Jesus’ day that this quality set Him apart from every other leader and influencer. Those who tried the hardest to disclaim Him openly acknowledged that Jesus was a man of indisputable integrity.
The Bible gives several examples of those who walked the path of integrity.
A Life Marked by Integrity
The psalms I quoted above speak of David. Then there is Joseph. He would certainly make the list as well. Sold into slavery by his brothers and alone in a foreign land, who would know if he stayed true to his moral values and faith in God? Or let’s consider Job who was afflicted more than any other man. Even his wife pleaded with him to give up his integrity and deny God, but he would not (Job 2:9-10).
“…Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity …”
Job 2:3
We read about Ruth, a foreigner and widower, who stood faithfully by her mother-in-law, giving up everything to humbly care for someone vulnerable. Esther risked her life but not her moral values. When integrity was almost as scarce as a snowflake in a desert, Deborah arose as a faithful mother of Israel, speaking truth and judging fairly.
Jesus commended Nathaniel for being one in “whom is found no deceit” (John 1:47). One of the most heathen countries ever, the infamous Babylon, abducted Daniel and his three friends. Despite intense pressure and threat to their lives, they continually refused to compromise their faith and values, boldly worshipping the One and Only God.
They proved that unwavering faith in God and confidence in His Word gives one the ability to choose the high and noble road — living a notch above a crowd and unwilling to bow to any threat or god. Hebrews chapter 11 gives many more examples of men and women of integrity.
Easy to Say, Hard to Do
Integrity always comes with a price — a price we may all too easily choose to ignore and disqualify.
Several years ago, an elderly man from our community walked into a local business shop. The crude conversation among patrons suddenly came to mute silence. These men held little respect for faith and rarely attended any church. Yet, the presence of one man changed everything. Mocking ceased. Coarse joking stopped. In its place came courtesy, kindness, and respect. One man of faith, without a word, flipped the atmosphere right side up. After leaving the business, the others quietly and solemnly dispersed.
Everyone knew this old gentleman to be not just a “church-goer” but a “faith-walker” — someone whose life was marked by integrity. He displayed the qualities honesty, consistency, and uncompromising adherence to strong moral and ethical principles and values. The whole community silently honored him for his gentle, quiet life-style of “doing to others as he would have them do to him” (Matthew 7:12). His was a vibrant faith lived and taught over many years walking close to his Savior and Lord Jesus. His life once transformed now transformed others. Such an encounter became life changing to many who knew this humble man.
Integrity, the mark of true excellence … the quality we all desire … rare … shining like a gem of great worth … forged not in places of ease, but through the pressures of life … like a diamond cut by a Master to shine forth a Light not their own.
A child of God … you are …. I am … called and set apart to be men and women “of integrity … (not) swayed by others, because (we) pay no attention to who they are; but (we) teach the way of God in accordance with the truth…”
Let it be, Lord. Let it be. In you and in me, may the world see in us the brilliance of integrity.
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