BECOMING A PERSON OF INTEGRITY

Now if you walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My judgments, then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, ‘You shall not fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’ I Kings 9:4‭-‬5 NKJV

I deal with a lot of up and coming leaders in ministry.  I try to pour into them the lessons that I’ve learned and the things that they need to watch out for that will either make or break them in the days to come.

One of the biggest areas that they will be tested in will be the area of integrity.

It is not something you can buy at a store and add to your resume but it is something that comes through learning to live day by day with making the “right” decisions over and over.

And,  it is true that a person could take a lifetime of building it only to see it crumble within a matter of minutes.

Notice how John Maxwell defines integrity - "It is deciding to integrate my heart’s value into my daily actions.”

As we seek to clothe ourselves with the characteristics of Jesus, I think we must look long and hard at this particular one. Jesus, when defending himself against the religious leaders of his day (his enemies and rivals), said this about his claim of being the Messiah:

John 10:25 - Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me”

HE says, what I say and what I do testify as to who I am.

A person of integrity is validated by their words and their deeds. If we are pure in heart we can be pure in action. Integrity is making my daily actions line up with my heart’s values.

I must value the benefits of integrity

If I am going to be a person of integrity than I must understand the value to determine if it is worth the price I must pay.

Michael Biolsi gives the following outline to help us understand integrity…

1. Integrity provides me with Protection (less fear)

Psalm 25:21 - May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope is in you.

Mark Twain said: “Speaking honestly is better. It takes a lot of stress out of our lives. If you tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything, but if you don’t tell the truth you have to remember what you said.”

When I have integrity I have protection. I have less fear and less stress because I do not have to look over my shoulder all of the time.

2. Integrity provides me with Security (greater confidence)

Proverbs 10:9 - The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out.

I can be confident that what I do is right and that it will prosper (though it may not prosper financially at times, it can prosper in other ways!) If you walk with integrity you do not have to worry about having a shaky foundation for what you do, it provides a firm foundation.

3. Integrity provides me with Guidance (better decision)

Proverbs 11:3 - The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.

In a society without moral absolutes anything goes. When people can choose what is right and wrong without having a standard, how do you decide which way to go? Eventually you will get caught in your duplicity. It will come back to bite you. If you live in integrity then your decisions are easier to make – your integrity guides you.

4. Integrity provides me with Hope (future rewards)

Job 4:6 - “Is not your fear of God your confidence, and the integrity of your ways your hope?

Hope for what? Hope that some day when I stand before God I will not be ashamed of how I lived and what He will say to me. Hope that I will be commended and not rebuked for my lifestyle and the testimony that I had while alive.

I must elevate myself to model integrity

SO how do we do it? How can we become people of integrity? What can I do or change in my life so that I can experience the benefits of integrity and the blessing of God?

1.  Ask God To Test My Heart

Have any of you ever had an EKG? What is the purpose of it? IT is to determine the health of the heart. To help find potential problems and to help diagnose future problems. It is a test of the condition of the heart.

This physical testing of the heart is what God needs to do to us in a spiritual sense. He needs to come in and find out the condition of our heart and fix it before major problems take over!

1 Chronicles 29:17 - I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things have I given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you.

You see, God is pleased with integrity and examines the heart to see if a person is full of integrity or full of bologna! What you believe in your heart will determine how you act when placed in a tempting situation.

Because of the fact that integrity begins in our hearts, we must ask God to examine our hearts and show us what is questionable.

Psalm 26:2 - Test me, O LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind

So, how does God show us what is questionable and also what is characteristic of integrity. One way is through the Bible. That is why the next point is so vital.

2. Study To Know What Is True

Throughout the Bible you will find the words: honesty, purity, truth, upright and complete all translated from the same words meaning integrity – they are all synonymous.

If, therefore, we are going to live lives of integrity we must know what integrity looks like. That comes from spending time in the Bible with God.

2 Timothy 2:15 - Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth. (NASB)

If we take the time to read and study the Bible and apply the truths that we read to our lives, then we can live lives of integrity. Why? Because the Bible is the only standard for living that is true and unchanging.

You will never come to stability in your life if you fail to spend time studying the Bible. You will be like a boat tossed about in every storm that you face.

Ephesians 4:14 - As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming (NASB)

Living the Christian life without studying the Bible is like trying to fix a car without reading the instructions… it just doesn’t work. Period.

3. Apply God’s Word To Your Daily Activities/ Work

Psalm 15:1-2 - O Lord, who may abide in Thy tent? Who may dwell on Thy holy hill? He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, and speaks truth in his heart.

Walking in integrity means integrating all of what God’s Word says into our daily activities. It means that I become a doer of the word.

James 1:22 - Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

Education without Application is Abortion.

The fact is that God’s Word has pretty clear instructions for each of us. If we do what God says and apply what we learn to our lives, we will become people of integrity – we will have hope, guidance, security and protection. If we do not apply what the Bible says to our lives we become shallow and empty.

4. Remain Faithful In Spite Of Circumstances

Have you ever gone through one of those times in your life where it feels like your whole world is caving in? It seems like you will not be able to handle another day of calamity! “If one more thing goes wrong I’m gonna lose it!”

I have a word for you today – don’t ever give up. Don’t ever, ever, ever, give up. Do whatever you can to remain faithful.

Job was a man who went through an awful lot but remained faithful.

Job 2:3 - Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”

God commends Job for his character. He is:
·    blameless
·    upright
·    fears God
·    shuns evil

His character was good. The fact that he kept his character in tack in spite of the best efforts of Satan made him a man of integrity.

He lost his
·    home
·    kids
·    wealth
·    health

But he never gave up on God. If you feel like you are about ready to give up on God, take time today to pray and ask God to renew your strength. Find a friend, a brother or sister from church, and ask them to pray with you.

Isaiah 40:31 - but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Remain faithful to God… he remains faithful to you.
 

5. Refuse To Be Persuaded By Others

Mark 12:14 - They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?

Job, had 3 friends that that were not the kind of friends you want to have. They kept trying to convince Job that he had sinned against God and needed to get right with God. Job knew better.

And, if they aren’t enough, even Job’s wife gets in on the act and tells Job:

Job 2:9-10 - His wife said to him, “Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!” He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.

We must never let others dictate what we do. They must never come between us and what is right; what is full of integrity. To become a person of integrity I must do what is right and refuse to be persuaded by others.

Have you ever heard the phrase, “Everybody else is doing it?” This is one of those lame rationalizations that we use to justify our actions. To be a person of integrity means that you are willing to go against the crowd if the crowd is wrong. It means being willing to stand alone, if necessary, for what is right. It means peer-pressure is no pressure for you.

You see, it is not what other people think about you that counts. It is what God thinks of you that you will care about… whether that is today or at the end of your life, sooner or later you will agree with me that the only thing that counts is what God is going to think and say about you. And His word says this:

Job 8:20 - “Lo, God will not reject a man of integrity, nor will He support the evildoers.

The fact is that integrity has a much higher value than riches or fame:
 

Proverbs 19:1 - Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than he who is perverse in speech and is a fool.

Proverbs 28:6 - Better is the poor who walks in his integrity, than he who is crooked though he be rich.

But integrity must be worked at.

Psalm 101:2 - … I will walk within my house in the integrity of my heart.

If it doesn’t work at home, it doesn’t work. It has to start be each of us being deliberate about modeling it. It means making sure that what we say and what we do – no matter what the circumstances – line up with each other. It means making our actions line up with our heart and making sure our heart is in tune with God.