Saturday, May 4, 2013

Integrity


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.

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