Men of integrity are seeking to find role models and be role models where they can. He will not wait until he gets caught doing something in order to admit to it and change it.Ĥ. Simply put, a real man will apologize for what he does and seek out those he needs to admit something to. Learn to make repairs, make amends, and atone for mistakes. Living with integrity is in no way taking the easy road but instead taking the road less traveled.ģ. This can be costly because it could mean owning up to your mistakes or needing to confront someone. They recognize the importance in not blaming others for their own behaviors.Ģ. A man of integrity will not fear being vulnerable because they recognize the value in being open and honest. There is no duplicity of attitudes and actions.1. A person of integrity is integrated and authentic. Even when he was doing something right, it turned out he was also doing something wrong. Īpparently he had not considered the consequences of his actions. We say that we are a nation of laws, but often we break some of those same laws-like speed limits and jaywalking- and try to justify our actions.Ī powerful illustration can be found in the book, The Day America Told the Truth, by James Patterson and Peter Kim. We claim to be a nation that demands integrity, but do we really? We say we want politicians to be honest, but really don’t expect them to be perhaps because often we aren’t as honest as we should be. CorruptionĪs we examine integrity, I would like to talk about its opposite: corruption. That is my goal in this article as we talk about integrity. The book of James admonishes us to be “doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves” (James 1:22). That would certainly require that people of integrity be students of the Word, and then diligently seek to apply God’s Word to their lives. A righteous man or woman walks in integrity and provides a path for his or her children to follow.Īll of these verses imply a sense of duty and a recognition that we must have a level of discernment of God’s will in our lives. Proverbs 20:7 says, “A righteous man who walks in his integrity How blessed are his sons after him.” Integrity leaves a legacy. Those who follow corruption or falsehood will be destroyed by the decisions and actions of their lives. The wise man or woman will live a life of integrity, which is a part of wisdom. Proverbs 11:3 says, “The integrity of the upright will guide them, But the falseness of the treacherous will destroy them.” Proverbs is a book of wisdom. Integrity provides a safe path through life. Proverbs 10:9 says that, “He who walks in integrity walks securely, But he who perverts his ways will be found out.” A person of integrity will have a good reputation and not have to fear that he or she will be exposed or found out. The book of Proverbs provides an abundance of verses on integrity. David says in 1 Chronicles 29:17, “I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity.” And in Psalm 78:70-72 we read that “David shepherded them with integrity of heart, with skillful hands.” In 1 Kings 9:4, God instructs Solomon to walk with “integrity of heart and uprightness” as his father did. Consider just a few Old Testament references to integrity. The Bible is full of references to integrity, character, and moral purity. Integrity, therefore, not only implies an undividedness, but a moral purity as well. 5:8), implying an undividedness in following God’s commands. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus talked about those who were “pure in heart” (Matt. A person of integrity is the same person in private that he or she is in public. A person of integrity is living rightly, not divided, nor being a different person in different circumstances. Just as we would talk about a whole number, so also we can talk about a whole person who is undivided. The word integrity comes from the same Latin root as integer and implies a wholeness of person. The subject of this article is the concept of integrity-a character quality that we often talk about but don’t see quite as regularly in the lives of public officials or even in the lives of the people we live and work with. This article is also available in Spanish. Understanding integrity will help us incorporate it in our daily walk with Jesus Christ. From a biblical worldview perspective, integrity is a critical element of a Christ centered life. Kerby Anderson helps us understand the true meaning and importance of the Christian virtue of integrity.
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