It’s been quite a while since I blogged, so I thought I’d
share some of my thoughts as of late; it’s something that’s been tugging at… actually
ripping through… my heart. It
keeps me up at night. It floods my
mind nonstop… all day, everyday. I
have listened to that voice in my head.
I have prayed about it. For
myself and for those that I love.
But I guess it’s not going to go away until I write it down… lay it all
out there. And then you can do
what you want with it.
This message is not aimed at any one person. Or maybe it is. If you feel the need to defend or justify your
actions, maybe you should take a closer look... examine your heart.
It’s a simple word.
INTEGRITY.
I feel that there is one reason we were put here on this
earth. Sure, there are lots of
other things that we are “supposed” to do while we’re here. And there are lots of things God
requires of us. But we have one
purpose. Just one.
To win souls to Christ. To shine HIS light for others to see.
He gives us breath each morning... something that's pretty crucial to life. And to whom much is given, much is required. It’s time for Christians to get their
heads in the game. No more riding
the fence. Either make the
decision to stand up, or sit down and watch. But stop trying to preach about Him while you’re too busy to
live for Him. Busy entertaining
others by fitting into their lifestyles.
Busy fulfilling your own worldly desires. Busy making yourself look good on Sundays but pushing your
calling to the back burner every other day of the week.
No one believes you.
You aren’t fooling anyone.
So step back… what does YOUR witness look like? Not the verb; the noun. As important as it is to speak about
His great love, there’s something equally important. And it's how people SEE you. Someone who’s never met you. Someone you occasionally interact with on Facebook. Someone who passes you every Monday morning but
doesn’t know your heart. What do
they see? Do they see someone who
puts God first in EVERY SINGLE THING they do? Do they see someone who not only sings about Him on Sundays
and Wednesdays but lives for him at work during the week?
or
Do they see someone who claims that He’s the Lord of their
life but allows the devil to manipulate their “witness” into something
worldly? Something hypocritical?
Whether you like it or not, they DO see you.
That’s where integrity comes into play. That word has been badgering me
lately. I pushed it aside until
this morning. I decided I should
look it up. Find the real meaning.
Now, I’m positive that word was running circles in my head
for a reason.
Wikipedia says,
“Integrity is a concept of consistency of actions, values,
methods, measures, principles, expectations and outcomes. In ethics, integrity is regarded as the
honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one’s actions. Integrity can be regarded as the
opposite of hypocrisy, in that integrity regards internal consistency as a
virtue, and suggests that parties holding apparently conflicting values should
account for the discrepancy or alter their beliefs.”
Wow.
“The word ‘integrity’ stems from the Latin adjective integer (whole, complete). In this context, integrity is the inner
sense of ‘wholeness’ deriving from qualities such as honesty and consistency of
character. As such, one may judge
that others ‘have integrity’ to the extent that they act according to the values,
beliefs and principles they claim to hold.
What values, beliefs and principles do YOU claim to hold?
Are your actions (your
Sunday actions AND your Friday night actions) indicative of your beliefs?
I PRAY that mine are.
I don’t want to have to share my heart with others… I want them to be
able to see it. All the time.
