The Problem with Integrity
Integrity and Honesty are Linked
Honesty is truthfulness. An honest person has the habit of making accurate, trustworthy statements about life, self, others and God. An honest person represents himself just as he is and tells others the truth about themselves. Honesty is not “expressing everything that goes through your mind.” That’s transparency, and a person can be honest without being transparent. However, no one can be consistently honest without a commitment to the truth. Honesty will, at times, hurt someone’s feelings, but that does not mean that dishonesty is preferable.
Dishonesty is reproved in Scripture. God does not accept a person who “practices deceit” (Psalm 101:7), and Jeremiah 9:5 says of a wicked society, “Everyone deceives his neighbor, and no one speaks the truth; they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they weary themselves committing iniquity.” Speaking the truth, or honesty, is a mark of healthy human interaction.
A person who knows the truth but (for whatever reason) says differently is a liar. The Bible emphasizes the importance of making true statements about God. To purposely misrepresent God is a serious offense. A liar is defined, first and foremost, as someone who denies that Jesus is the Christ (1 John 2:22). “Trusting in lies” is consistent with forgetting God (Jeremiah 13:25). And those who claim to know God but contradict Him, add to His words, or refuse to follow or accept His commands are also called liars (1 John 2:4;5:10;Proverbs 30:6).
Honesty as a character quality is a sign of the Spirit’s work in a person’s soul. God cannot lie (Hebrews 6:18); therefore, His presence in a person gives rise to truthfulness. God’s people are honest.
Humankind is not naturally honest (Psalm 116:11). Dishonesty has worldly rewards–lying can often bring financial gain, power, or temporary satisfaction. But the rewards come at a price. Dishonesty leads to more and more wickedness (Proverbs 17:4). Lying to fulfill worldly desires ultimately results in the loss of everything a person has, including his life. Hell’s inhabitants will include “all liars” (Revelation 21:8). “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36).
While it is sometimes tempting to lie, misrepresent ourselves, or downplay uncomfortable truths in an effort to avoid conflict, dishonesty is never good for relationships. Speaking dishonest words in order avoid conflict is flattery (Psalm 12:2). Again, at times honesty will hurt the feelings of others. It’s inevitable. Remember the words of the wise: “Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses” (Proverbs 27:6). A friend is willing to wound with the truth; sweet words, if lies, are the enemies of our soul.
That said, honesty should always be accompanied by gentleness. An honest person is motivated by love, not by an obsession with relaying accurate information (Proverbs 19:22). Above all, the honest person is concerned with telling the truth about God and fostering the spiritual growth of other people (Ephesians 4:29). Those who follow Jesus, the Truth (John 14:6), will speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15).
[Honesty includes giving credit where due: www.gotquestions.org/Bible-honesty.html)
Below are 7 Bible verses containing important Scriptures about integrity and honesty:
1 Kings 9:4-5 - And as for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my statutes and my rules, then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, "You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel."
Psalm 41:11-13 - 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. Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! Amen and Amen.
Proverbs 2:20-21 - So you will walk in the way of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous. For the upright will inhabit the land, and those with integrity will remain in it …
Genesis 20:5-6 - Did he not himself say to me, "She is my sister"? And she herself said, "He is my brother." In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this. Then God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her
Psalm 101:1-2 - I will sing of steadfast love and justice; to you, O LORD, I will make music. I will ponder the way that is blameless. Oh when will you come to me? Will walk with integrity of heart within my house;
Proverbs 28:18 - Whoever walks in integrity will be delivered, but he who is crooked in his ways will suddenly fall.
Job 2:3 - And the LORD said to Satan, "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, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason."
[The above 7 verses come from www.christianpost.com/.../7-bible-verses-about-the-im.]
Integrity is our work toward holiness and will not be perfected in this life
We are not saved by what we do, but by who we are as disciples and believers in The Way
Your Thoughts
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)
Our thought life is where our reality is birthed: our concept of self, attitudes, opinions, desires, truth, justice and love are formed.
Take Inventory
Make a list of things you believe to be true and that shape your thoughts
Your Words
For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.
How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse peoplewho are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.
Our words give form to our thoughts. They can lift up and tear down. They can be truthful or lies. They can be correct or in error. By your words you can ruin life or redeem it. How has your tongue hurt yourself? How has your tongue hurt others?
Take Inventory
How do your words fail to match your thoughts?
Your Actions
But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him…(1 John 3:17-19)
Our actions make real our words and thoughts, they reveal our courage, our self-control, and the true strength of our convictions.
Take Inventory
How have your actions hurt others? How do they not match your words and thoughts?
Alignment
The word of God tells that nothing more than repentance and confession is necessary to complete the process of alignment. Our integrity demands that we align our thoughts, our words and our actions. Conviction is that feeling of dissonance that occurs, by the Holy Spirit, when we are out of alignment. Reconcile your inventories. Your thoughts should lead, not your tongue or your fleshly impulses.
Making Amends
If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. (1 John 1:8-10)
You cannot change the past. Confess your inventory to God and a trusted person (yes, all of it) and, as much as it is possible, make amends. This may take some time and will be difficult, but do not skip this step. Decide what is the right way to approach each person and the best way to make amends. It can be as simple as an apology or as hard as repaying a large debt. Some apologies will need to be made to a gravestone or empty chair. There may be some amends that are just plain dangerous, others that will be rejected. Keep in mind, you are doing this for yourself, strange as that may seem, so there may be times when amends would actually hurt another person more and you may not be able to be face to face. Follow your conscience in those situations. Do this and you will remember the difficulty of redemption the next time you are tempted to perform verbal arson. This is a part of gaining integrity. A clean slate. Keep in mind that there may be things you did not include on your list that the Holy Spirit will bring to mind from time to time as additional amends- follow that prompting immediately. Make this your pattern.
Make a list of names of those you have hurt and how you will make amends
Integrating New Thoughts
Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. (Romans 12: 1b-3)
Living with integrity involves us not only aligning our thoughts, words and actions together. It is meaningless unless we align our thoughts with God's will. This is revealed by the scripture, conversation with God and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Our thoughts were never intended to be the highest authority.
Through any of these means, we may come to a higher understanding that demands that we re-align ourselves to be obedient to God. This could be a big shift or a small one. For example, we may come to a new understanding through the bible that all life is sacred, but we also believe in abortion as a right (thought), have spoken in support of the death penalty (words) or carry a gun for protection (actions). We may realize these things are out of alignment and we integrate our new thoughts, words and deeds. These types of re-alignments are common.
My Original Source Article from my Living True To Yourself blog
http://livingtruetoyourself.blogspot.com/
Living true to yourself is living with integrity, that means your thoughts, words and actions are in harmony with each other. Not that you live by some unteachable spirit, but when your thoughts and beliefs change, your words and most importantly, your actions change to match.
It is easy to think a thought to recognize an idea as noble, and it is easy to espouse an ideal, people do this all the time. The TEST comes in applying the thoughts and words in action.
One can rant about the government or place of employment at will but when it comes to producing change: will we act? Will we go beyond our words by running for office or leading a protest? Would we sacrifice our security by talking to our boss- or even quitting?
Yet this is the essence of integrity. It starts by thinking honorable and right thoughts. Left to my own devices, these would be ultimately selfish thoughts. Because of my faith, I have guidelines laid out by God to give me a plumbline. I can see that His thoughts are higher than my thoughts and his ways higher than my ways through the narrative of the Bible. I don't understand much of it, but the parts I do understand are enough to keep me busy the rest of my life.
I have an over-developed sense of justice that borderlines on desire to see things be "fair" (or at least my idea of fair). In the small short view of a human, that is bound to make me dissatisfied. I "major in the minors" like politics, materialism, career, building a legacy for myself. I rant quite a bit about these things when others seem to be working against me (Yes, even God). So integrity starts in choosing my direction and my battles. Over-arching themes of faith, simplicity, service, truth, and a belief that something of God lives in all of us, this creates a cognitive structure or ideal, that encapsulates our life scheme. We already have one of these we have developed over the years, but the components can sometimes conflict (e.g. we believe all life is sacred, but we also carry a gun for protection, or believe in abortion as a right). These conflicts create tension or cognitive dissonance in our mind which we work to justify using mental gymnastics. First our thoughts must co-exist peacefully before they become words.
Our words, they are many, and more than our actions, which is a problem. I sometimes allow my words to compose my thoughts (putting the cart before the horse, so to speak). Oh, we do love to hear ourselves speak! At times we can barely wait for another to stop speaking so we can unleash our words. Often we turn the subject towards ourselves- check yourself in this- you might be surprised. Our words want to direct us in selfish ways- "out of the heart the mouth speaks" and our heart is often all about us.
The courage to act is the true test of all our thoughts and words.
