What does walking in integrity look like?
TODAY’S PROVERB: One who walks in integrity, walks securely, but one who takes crooked paths will be discovered. Proverbs 10:9
As we walk the path of life, we don’t always make good decisions. We talked about that last week — how the fear of making a wrong decision can actually cause great stress and anxiety.
After over six decades, I still make decisions that are based on selfishness, laziness, impatience, and foolishness. Hopefully, a lot less often than before, but because I’m still living with the negative repercussions of a few decisions — well, I’d say it is an issue I need to work on.
Where does integrity come into this?
It comes in when I own up to what I’ve done and not take the crooked path of avoiding my responsibilities.
Taking the crooked path most often comes from fear. Fear of punishment. Fear of looking bad. Fear of being wrong. Fear of offending God. Well, that last one is silly. He saw the whole thing — from our decision to the outcome. It’s not like He hasn’t seen us do stupid things before. He’s just sad when we add sin to the poor decision.
I remember something from my childhood. It was some television show where a guy came running into a New York diner. He was late for a business lunch. The server stood by as the late guy rattled off not just one or two excuses, but three to his lunch partner. The server pointed to the guy and said, “He’s lying.”
When asked why the server would make such an offensive remark. He pointed to the late-guy and said, “Had he just apologized for being late, I would say he was a man of integrity. One excuse, you might need to keep an eye out for him. The second excuse means he has a problem with responsibility. Three excuses, don’t leave your wallet on the table.”
Please forgive my embellishment of the story, I wish I could remember the dialog exactly. What I do remember is the lesson of the story. Just own up to making a mistake.
The more we try to take the attention off of our mistake, the less we are accountable to it. And the less chance we have of learning from our mistakes.
If we find ourselves in a sticky place of doing or saying something that hurt someone else, or making a mistake that affects others, we need to own up to it. It’s fine, probably wise, to review the circumstances to discover why we may have done what we did, but if we’re reviewing to look for excuses, then . . .
Taking the path to integrity means we sometimes have to humble ourselves. If I see myself from God’s perspective, dodging the inevitable destination is pretty silly. Yet, my default reaction is to do that.
Walking wisdom’s journey has taught me to stop and identify those excuses. Then deal with them. Walking in integrity means walking in humility. Walking in humility means there’s a fighting chance for reconciliation. And that is a good thing.
I’ll leave you with one of my favorite passages:
There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and the one who fears has not been made perfect in love. 1 John 4:18
May we walk in integrity and God’s perfect love, my friends.
Proverbs 10:9, #tlvbible, #tlvproverbs
[WATCH Tree of Life Bible Society’s CEO, Daniah Greenberg and me, Terri Gillespie, Author dig a little deeper with this proverb. Check us out at Tree of Life Bible Society, Monday through Friday, LIVE at 8:30am EST. Watch previous episodes there as well. Stay wise, my friends!]
