“Personal Integrity”
As we turn on our TV’s we have been exposed to programs with all ranks of politicians being interviewed by reporters and television personalities about numerous situations affecting our Nation.
Most of these have film clips of the political figures making statements over the past three or four years, and now, in recently filmed interviews, denying they ever made the statements. But when you see and hear those statements on a television program, it is impossible for both of them to be truthful.
Regardless of one’s political party affiliation, all Christians need to remember one very important word when going in to vote this year.
That word is “integrity!” Integrity is “the adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.” Integrity is one of the most important and oft-cited of virtue terms. Integrity is to do what's right, legally and morally. The antonym is dishonesty and the synonym is honor. This paints a fairly clear picture. Honesty is a pure, ethical principle through which a person can earn respect and honor.
We frequently think of a man of integrity being honest and trustworthy, but integrity is more than that. It means fairness and straightforwardness of conduct; adherence to the facts. It implies a refusal to lie, steal, or deceive in any way. It suggests an active or anxious regard for the standards of one's profession, calling, or position. It implies tried and proven honesty or truthfulness. It implies trustworthiness and truthfulness to a degree that one is incapable of being false to a trust, responsibility or pledge. It also means being incapable of corruption; not subject to decay or dissolution; incapable of being bribed or morally corrupted. The questions to be asked are: where does our nation stand with regard to these principles of integrity, where does an organization or political party stand and what is your individual position? Supporting untruths made by politicians destroys our individual integrity.
What does the Bible have to say about integrity? According to Scripture, the true gauge of a man's integrity is his heart. The world evaluates a person's integrity from what it sees in man's outward behavior. God judges integrity from what He sees in a man's heart, for Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the Lord pondereth the hearts (Proverbs 21:2). In other words, man measures integrity from the outside, and God measures integrity from the inside. Integrity is giving your word and keeping it (Exodus 8:28-32).
Let me be weighed in an even balance that God may know mine integrity; ( Job 31:6 ). Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for
I wait on thee (Psalm 25:21). Judge me, O LORD; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the LORD; therefore I shall not slide ( Psalm 26:1). But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity: redeem me, and be merciful unto me (Psalm 26:11). And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face forever (Psalm 41:12). Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity, than he that is perverse in his lips, and is a fool (Proverb 19:1). The just man walketh in his integrity; his children are blessed after him (Proverbs 20:7).
And, in the words of Billy Graham, “Integrity is the glue that holds our way of life together. We must constantly strive to keep our integrity intact. When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost.”