Living with integrity

What does it mean to live with integrity? Here's a brief thought from my time with God this morning.

I was reading Psalm 84 which speaks of the good things God gives to those who live with integrity. It made me ask the question of myself that led to these thoughts. What does living with integrity actually look like. Here is what the Psalm says:

Psalm 84:11 NET
For the LORD God is our sovereign protector. The LORD bestows favor and honor; he withholds no good thing from those who have integrity.

Here is a promise of God's favour, his promise for good things for his people. We love having good things bestowed on us. But our was the living with integrity that caught my attention. Am I personally living with integrity?

We expect those around us to behave with integrity but what about us. Are we leading the way with integrity and what does it actually look like in everyday life?

Here's some thoughts. 

At the very basic level, living with integrity means that our actions line up with our words and our beliefs. It means that we always do what we say we will do, not just in our personal lives but in every single interaction with people. But it is more than our words lining up with our beliefs. True integrity honours and respects others in those interactions.

So living with integrity means being honest in business transactions and with our tax returns (and not taking short cuts in our financial dealings). It means following through on agreements you have made (financial or otherwise) and paying back what you owe to others.

It means that in our relationships we choose to honour other people and to refuse to be involved in any form of gossip or negative behaviour towards them. And when we interact with others we do so in a way that encourages and builds up. Our speech and our discussions will reflect what is good and right and challenge what is not right. 

Integrity also honours the time and the boundaries we have set for ourselves and honouring and respecting the time and the boundaries of other people, refusing to manipulate in any way even when we are upset, disappointed or would prefer a different response.

It means that at every level of our lives, with everyone, we live out our actions and our behaviours in a way that is honourable and respectful in line with what we believe.

For me as a follower of Jesus, this means doing all of this in a way that also  honours God and the name of Jesus and brings my actions into line with my beliefs according to God's wisdom and not my own.

Comments

  1. UnknownAugust 31, 2018 at 4:33 AM

    You've expressed these truths very well.Thought provoking ☺

    ReplyDelete

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