One of the greatest needs today, in people’s personal lives and in every arena of society, is the quality of integrity. You can see the need for it everywhere – in government, in business, in education, in law enforcement, in sports, in the media, in the entertainment industry, in personal relationships, and also in the church.
Integrity means that there is an integration of who people see on the outside and who we really are on the inside. Our walk matches our talk.
Here are a few additional good thoughts on integrity for reflection …
- Integrity is who you are when no one is looking. Reputation is who you are when everyone is looking. People can ruin your reputation but no one can take away your integrity.
- Ultimately, your reputation will be a reflection of your character. D.L. Moody said, “If I take care of my character, my reputation will take care of itself.”
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A person’s reputation (or image) is only what people think them to be. Their character is what God knows them to be and what they really are.
- Integrity is how you treat those who are not present.
- True integrity is a conviction that there is a right and a wrong – and a commitment to seek to do what is right at all times, even when no one else knows.
- Integrity commits itself to: character over personal gain; people over things; service over power; principle over convenience; and the long view over the immediate.
- Don’t do what you wouldn’t feel comfortable reading in the newspapers the next day.
- If you always tell the truth, you never have to remember what you said.
- The fear of the Lord is the awareness that He is constantly watching and evaluating every thing we think, say and do.
- The measure of a person’s real character is what they would do if they would never be found out.
- There’s a price for integrity, but the cost pales in comparison with the cost of compromise. Your integrity is a precious possession.
Finally, a few Bible verses on the importance of integrity – worth meditating on …
1 Chron 29:17. I know, my God, that you examine our hearts and rejoice when you find integrity there.
Psalm 25:21. May integrity and honesty protect me, for I put my hope in you. NLT
Proverbs 10:9. People with integrity have firm footing, but those who follow crooked paths will slip and fall. NLT
Proverbs 11:3. The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity. NIV
Hi Mark,
That is so true. 1 Chron 29:17 as a prayer is a must but it’s not easy.
I like a quote by A.R. Bernard “Your integrity is your power. If you lose your integrity, you lose your power.”
Just want to say that I have challenged (and changed) this year with the NT reading and I look fwd to starting the OT reading soon.
Thanks Anthony. A good quote from AR Bernard too.
God is truly growing you when your darkness (ie, the lack of integerity to trust your new life in Christ)cannot out power the reverlation of light (living in and through what Paul decovered..”When I wanted to do good evil was always present. What is a person to do?
Find the integrity (or spirit of God) in you. If we walk in the spirit we will not fulfill the desires of the flesh. Your flesh lacks integrity
that is why people and society lacks it because of the lack of God’s knoweldge or integrity for their lives. If people would stop trying life and accept God rely,depend and trust Him, then the heaven will open and the rain of integrity will pour down and we will one again hear a voive from heaven saying” This is my son in whom I am well please.