INTEGRITY; THE FORCE THAT IS MOST REQUIRED IN
LEADERSHIP.
1Samuel 12:1-4
1Timothy 4:15-16
The Oxford dictionaries declared the word ‘post-truth’ the word
of the year for 2016. It had shown a 2000% increase in usage
during the year, spiking during the Brexit and US Presidential
debates. In a ‘post-truth’ era objective facts appear less
influential and important. Emotions rules today.
There is a tolerance for dishonest, inaccurate allegations and
outright denial of facts. Blatant lies become routine.
PALTERING: TO talk or act insincerely or deceitfully.
Distorting the truth without actually lying.
PALTERING is common in negotiations, politics and everyday
life. But be warned if you are caught.
• For instance, if you buy a car, you want to know the truth about
that car.
• In a relationship, you want to know the truth.
• We hunger for honesty and truth.
Does God change, lower His word, values/standards ,because
society is changing and He has to understand the realities of today?
“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness
for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet
for bitter.”
Isaiah 5:20 NIV
“So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance;
truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter. Truth is
nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. The
Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice.”
Isaiah 59:14-15 NIV
Conditioned to do much sin that we call good evil and evil good.
We have acclimatized to wrong doing so much that we think it is
normal and OK.
•
The development of character is at the heart of our growth as
leaders.
•
•
We cannot separate leadership from relationship.
At the core of all relationships the most desired value is
INTEGRITY
“Teach me, and I will be quiet; show me where I have been wrong.
How painful are honest words! But what do your arguments prove?”
Job 6:24-25 NIV
What qualities in employees irritate bosses the most? Burke
Marketing Research asked executives in 100 of the nation's 1000
largest companies. At the top of the list was dishonesty. Mrac
Silbert, whose temporary employee firm commissioned the study,
says, "If a company believes that an employee lacks integrity, all
positive qualities--ranging from skill and experience to productivity
and intelligence--become meaningless."
After surveying thousands of people around the world and
performing more than 400 written case studies, James Kouzes and
Barry Posner identified those characteristics most desired in a
leader.
In virtually every survey, honesty or integrity was identified
more frequently than any other trait.
That makes sense, doesn’t it? If people are going to follow
someone, whether into battle or in business or ministry, they want
assurance that their leader can be trusted. They want to know that
he or she will keep promises and follow through with commitments.
The Integrity of Samuel
Israel’s high regard for Samuel comes as no surprise. Samuel was
a man who exuded integrity.
Nowhere is this best illustrated than in 1 Samuel 12:1-4:
Samuel said to all Israel, “I have listened to everything you said to
me and have set a king over you. Now you have a king as your
leader. As for me, I am old and gray, and my sons are here with
you. I have been your leader from my youth until this day. Here I
stand. Testify against me in the presence of the Lord and his
anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken?
Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose
hand have I accepted a bribe to make me shut my eyes? If I have
done any of these, I will make it right.”
“You have not cheated or oppressed us,” they replied. “You have
not taken anything from anyone’s hand.”
During his farewell speech, after having led Israel for decades,
Samuel promised to repay anything he had unjustly taken from
anyone. What a promise! Even more impressive was the people’s
response. Not one person rose up to make a claim against Samuel.
Samuel’s honesty and personal integrity permeated every area of
his life.
Paul tells Timothy:
Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so
that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and
doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will
save both yourself and your hearers. 1 Timothy 4:15-16
When we talk about integrity today, we generally use other, closely
related terms such as ethics and morality. But a clear
understanding of the concept of integrity requires clear thinking
about all three words. Each has a distinct meaning. When properly
used, they bring clarity to a crucial but often misunderstood
leadership essential:
• Ethics refers to a standard of right and wrong, good and evil.
It’s what the Pharisees said they believed was right.
• Morality is a lived standard of right and wrong, good and evil.
It’s what the Pharisees actually did.
• Integrity means “sound, complete, integrated.” To the extent
that a person’s ethics and morality are integrated, that
person has integrity. To the extent that a person’s ethics and
morality are not integrated, that person lacks integrity.
Let’s look at this another way. If your friend John tells you he will lie,
cheat and steal, he has a low ethic. If he does business that way,
he also has a low morality. John is unethical and immoral, but he
has integrity – twisted as it may be – because the morality is
consistent with the ethic. If John claims to cheat and steal but
doesn’t cheat and steal, he is moral in practice but lacks integrity,
because his morality doesn’t match his ethic.
You can have a high or low ethic. You can be moral or immoral.
The choice is yours. But if you want to have integrity, you must
choose your ethic and live to match it.
Much of the heartache we experience is directly related to the
unreliability of people (lack of integrity ).
The Bible teaches a high and holy ethic. A person who claims
to be a Christian and to live by biblical standards makes an
ethical statement. He or she has committed to a certain
morality. For that person to have integrity, then, he or she must
live by the biblical ethic.
Biblical integrity is not just doing the right thing; it’s a matter
of having the right heart and allowing the person you are on
the inside to match the person you are on the outside. This is
how God is. This is how his people should be.
SUMMARY:
In the Bible, the Hebrew word translated “integrity” in the Old
Testament means “the condition of being without blemish,
completeness, perfection, sincerity, soundness, uprightness,
wholeness.”
Integrity in the New Testament means “honesty sincerity,"
"truth," the "pure heart," the "single eye," genuine, and is
fundamental to true character. Adherence to a pattern of good
works.”
The dictionary defines integrity as “a firm adherence to a code of
especially moral or artistic values, or incorruptibility; incapable of
being bribed or morally corrupted.”
Modern psychologists describe the experience of personal
disintegration. To disintegrate means exactly what the word
suggests, “dis integrate.” To integrate something is to put
pieces together in a unified whole…. The word
integrity…[suggests] a person whose life is whole or
wholesome. In modern slang we say, “He’s got it all together.”
To have integrity is to be integrated, to be whole, to have it all
together in a sense, to be consistent.
Perhaps a good word to think of is “consistency.” There must be
consistency between what is inside and what is outside.
God is totally consistent. His actions and behaviors always
match his character and nature. And his goal for us is nothing
less.
In the words of John Ortberg, “INTEGROUS Disciplined people can
do the right thing at the right time in the right way for the right
reason.” Just like God.
WHY IS INTEGRITY IMPORTANT IN A LEADERS LIFE
1.
IT IS THE NATURE OF GOD and as He is so must we
strive to manifest His nature in us.
Heb 6:13-20 For when God made the promise to Abraham, He
swore [an oath] by Himself, since He had no one greater by whom
to swear, 14 saying, “I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply
you.” 15 And so, having patiently waited, he realized the promise [in
the miraculous birth of Isaac, as a pledge of what was to come from
God]. 16 Indeed men swear [an oath] by one greater than
themselves, and with them [in all disputes] the oath serves as
confirmation [of what has been said] and is an end of the dispute.
17 In the same way God, in His desire to show to the heirs of the
promise the unchangeable nature of His purpose, intervened and
guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable
things [His promise and His oath] in which it is impossible for
God to lie, we who have fled [to Him] for refuge would have strong
encouragement and indwelling strength to hold tightly to the hope
set before us. 19 This hope [this confident assurance] we have as
an anchor of the soul [it cannot slip and it cannot break down under
whatever pressure bears upon it]—a safe and steadfast hope that
enters within the veil [of the heavenly temple, that most Holy Place
in which the very presence of God dwells], 20 where Jesus has
entered [in advance] as a forerunner for us, having become a High
Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
Malachi 3:6 (AMP)
6 “For I am the Lord, I do not change [but remain faithful to My
covenant with you]; that is why you, O sons of Jacob, have not
come to an end.
Titus 1:2 (NASB)
2 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised
[a]long ages ago,
“He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for
he is not a man, that he should change his mind” (1 Samuel 15:29).
Throughout the Scriptures, God focuses on the fact that he is a God
who makes and keeps his covenants, that he can be trusted (1
Chronicles 16:15; Psalm 105:8). God can be trusted because he is
trustworthy.
God is integrity. He does not merely act with integrity; integrity
is his character.
But what about us? The biblical virtue of integrity points to a
consistency between what is inside and what is outside,
between belief and behavior, our words and our ways, our
attitudes and our actions, our values and our practice.
GOD NEVER CHANGES
Is there anyone we can trust? People let us down again and again,
because there is often a discrepancy between what they claim to
believe and how they actually live. But God will never let us down,
because he never changes. His promises are as good as his
unchanging character: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today
and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).
Jesus does not change. The Living God does not change. His love,
his truth and his goodness are not governed by external
circumstances or conditions – they never vacillate. Therefore, God’s
character and the promises he makes are supremely worthy of our
trust and commitment. He does what he says, and his covenant
love is always dependable.
What can I lean against? What can I trust in? What can I pursue
with reckless abandon? So many of us have been burned by
relationships, by people going back on their word, claiming that they
said something when they did not say it. It can make you cynical if
you’re not careful. But when we come back to the character of God,
we realize, “He is the unchanging standard.”
Because it is impossible for God to lie (Hebrews 6:18; Titus 1:2), he
is the ultimately reliable source of hope.
His changeless character is the foundation of all of his
promises. Whatever he says he will do is as good as done, and
when we hope in his promises, this hope becomes an anchor
for the soul, both firm and secure (Hebrews 6:19).
Unlike many parents, God’s yes is always yes, and his no is always
no (James 5:12). When God says yes, it stays yes; when he says
no, it stays no.
This has both negative and positive ramifications.
Negatively, there is no getting God to change his mind through
bribery or whining. Positively, when God makes a promise, he
can be counted on to fulfill that word.
Much of the heartache we experience is directly related to the
unreliability of people.
But God’s actions flow perfectly out of his character: “He who is the
Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man,
that he should change his mind” (1 Samuel 15:29).
There is no possibility of manipulating or bribing or bargaining with
God, because he will never compromise his perfect integrity. God
himself has testified, “I the Lord do not change” (Malachi 3:6). God’s
perfect and constant character allows us to trust in his promises
and timing.
Anyone who wants to lead/marry at least owes it to prospective
followers to let them know what they are getting into.
2. DANGERS OF NOT BEING INTEGREOUS: HYPOCRISY
James 4:17 ESV So whoever knows the right thing to do and
fails to do it, for him it is sin.
Proverbs 10:9 (AMP)
He who walks in integrity and with moral character walks securely,
But he who takes a crooked way will be discovered and punished.
Proverbs 11:3 ESV
The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the
treacherous destroys them
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Loose and hurt your reputation
People will like you less
People will not trust you
Incarceration
It can bring shame to you, your family, the church and to
the name of the Lord
F. Hypocrite : If you lack integrity as a lifestyle:
Jesus makes it unequivocally clear that the worst choice is the
hypocritical one.
Hypocrisy is the opposite of integrity.
This is serious business. When we find our walk not matching our
talk, the probing question of Jesus should echo in our hearts: “Why
do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46).
If we imagine the holy eyes of Jesus Christ, Lord of the universe, as
he asks this question, we ought to be at least a little frightened.
3.
BENEFITS OF BEING INTEGROUS
A.
Be a great leader with godly legacy
1Kings 9:4 “As for you, if you walk before me faithfully with
integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and
do all I command and observe my decrees and laws, 5 I will
establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised
David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a
successor on the throne of Israel
B.
God will delight in you, can and will use.
PSALM 15:1-5 AMP
O LORD, who may lodge [as a guest] in Your tent? Who may dwell
[continually] on Your holy hill? He who walks with integrity and
strength of character, and works righteousness, And speaks and
holds truth in his heart. He does not slander with his tongue, Nor
does evil to his neighbor, Nor takes up a reproach against his
friend; In his eyes an evil person is despised, But he honors those
who fear the LORD [and obediently worship Him with awe-inspired
reverence and submissive wonder]. He keeps his word even to
his own disadvantage and does not change it [for his own
benefit]; He does not put out his money at interest [to a fellow
Israelite], And does not take a bribe against the innocent. He who
does these things will never be shaken.”
Psalm 24:3-5 ESV
Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his
holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does
not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear
deceitfully. He will receive blessing from the Lord and
righteousness from the God of his salvation.
Proverbs 12:22 ESV Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord,
but those who act faithfully are his delight.
2 Corinthians 8:21 ESV
For we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord's sight but also
in the sight of man.
Colossians 3:23 ESV
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,
Ephesians 6:6 ESV
Not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as servants
of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,
C. You will last and end well
Job 2:9 ESV Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your
integrity? Curse God and die.”
Job 27:4-6 ESV
My lips will not speak falsehood, and my tongue will not utter deceit.
Far be it from me to say that you are right; till I die I will not put
away my integrity from me. I hold fast my righteousness and will
not let it go; my heart does not reproach me for any of my days.
D.
Influence and raise great children
Your children will be blessed
Proverbs 20:7 ESV
The righteous who walks in his integrity— blessed are his children
after him!
E.
Save you and you will sleep well
Proverbs 10:9 (AMP)
He who walks in integrity and with moral character walks securely,
But he who takes a crooked way will be discovered and punished.
Psalm 25:21 ESV
May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you.
Acts 24:16 ESV
So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God
and man.
Proverbs 11:3 ESV
The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the
treacherous destroys them
Romans 9:1 ESV
I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience
bears me witness in the Holy Spirit—
Ezekiel 18:7-9 ESV
Does not oppress anyone, but restores to the debtor his pledge,
commits no robbery, gives his bread to the hungry and covers the
naked with a garment, does not lend at interest or take any profit,
withholds his hand from injustice, executes true justice between
man and man, walks in my statutes, and keeps my rules by acting
faithfully—he is righteous; he shall surely live, declares the Lord
God.
F. You can be trusted and promoted
Luke 16:10 ESV “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in
much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in
much.
Psalm 17:3 ESV
You have tried my heart, you have visited me by night, you have
tested me, and you will find nothing; I have purposed that my mouth
will not transgress.
G. Better person
Proverbs 28:6 ESV Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity
than a rich man who is crooked in his ways.
1 Peter 3:16 ESV
Having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those
who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.
Hebrews 13:18 ESV
Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience,
desiring to act honorably in all things.
Acts 23:1 ESV
And looking intently at the council, Paul said, “Brothers, I have lived
my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.”
H. It will deliver you from your enemies
Psalm 41:11-12 ESV By this I know that you delight in me: my
enemy will not shout in triumph over me. But you have upheld me
because of my integrity, and set me in your presence forever.
Psalm 26:1 ESV
Of David. Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity,
and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.
I.
You avoid hypocrisy, one of the most damnable trait of
the hell bound.
James 1:22-25 ESV
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving
yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he
is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For
he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was
like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty,
and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts,
he will be blessed in his doing.
Job 15:34 (NKJV) For the company of hypocrites will be barren,
And fire will consume the tents of bribery.
Mark 7:6-8 (MSG)Jesus answered, “Isaiah was right about
frauds like you, hit the bull’s-eye in fact:
These people make a big show of saying the right thing, but
their heart isn’t in it.
They act like they are worshiping me, but they don’t mean it.
They just use me as a cover or teaching whatever suits their
fancy,
Ditching God’s command and taking up the latest fads.
Just as the following people experienced great things with
God, so will you as you live an integrious life:
•
•
•
•
Daniel, Shadrac and friends
Joseph
Job. Job 2:2,3 6:24-
David
1Kings 9:4 “As for you, if you walk before me faithfully with
integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did,
and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws, 5 I
will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I
promised David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to
have a successor on the throne of Israel.’
Paul
Bad examples:
1. Solomon
2. Samson
3. Majority of Israel's kings
4. Most politicians
5. Some parents
6. Some bosses
7. Some pastors
EXAMPLES: PHARISEES VS. SAMUEL
The Hypocrisy of the Pharisees
If we fail to face up to our inadequacy, we fall into the trap of
the Pharisees: hypocrisy.
Hypocrisy is the opposite of integrity, and this is precisely what
Jesus accuses the Pharisees and teachers of the law of in Matthew
23. Six times in this sermon, he uses the stinging word “hypocrites”
(vv. 13, 15, 23, 24, 27, 29). Originally, a hypocrite meant an actor
who put on a mask to assume a false identity while he played for
the audience.
We have already discovered that integrity – the direct opposite
quality of hypocrisy – is the quality that people want most in a
leader. Clearly, the Pharisees and teachers of the law in Jesus’ day
failed to live up to that standard.
The Integrity of Samuel
Israel’s high regard for Samuel comes as no surprise. Samuel was
a man who exuded integrity.
Nowhere is this best illustrated than in 1 Samuel 12:1-4:
Samuel said to all Israel, “I have listened to everything you said to
me and have set a king over you. Now you have a king as your
leader. As for me, I am old and gray, and my sons are here with
you. I have been your leader from my youth until this day. Here I
stand. Testify against me in the presence of the Lord and his
anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken?
Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose
hand have I accepted a bribe to make me shut my eyes? If I have
done any of these, I will make it right.”
“You have not cheated or oppressed us,” they replied. “You have
not taken anything from anyone’s hand.”
During his farewell speech, after having led Israel for decades,
Samuel promised to repay anything he had unjustly taken from
anyone. What a promise! Even more impressive was the people’s
response. Not one person rose up to make a claim against Samuel.
Samuel’s honesty and personal integrity permeated every area of
his life.
Samuel held himself accountable to the people he led. He opened
himself up to the scrutiny of everyone with whom he had ever had
dealings. As a result of this practice, Samuel’s leadership has
become legendary as this story has been told and retold throughout
the centuries.
People want to know that their leader can be trusted. They
want to know that leaders will keep promises and follow
through on commitments.
Promises and commitments are significant, though, in our day
of Machiavellian ethics, it seems that they have become
optional.
We often seem more concerned with convenience and
performance.
We give lip-service to the importance of character, but we have
the idea that when things get tough, the rules can be changed
and commitments and covenants may be discarded at will.
But the Bible makes clear just how important our covenants are.
It always comes down to the issue of character, not just words.
APPLYING INTEGRITY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
QUESTIONS:
1. Do I role-play based on the persons I am with?
2. Am I the same person in public as I am when alone?
3. Do I have an unchanging standards for moral decisions or
do circumstances determine my choices?
4. Do I make difficult decisions even when they have a
personal cost attached to them?
A. FAMILY AND Home Life
B. CHURCH LIFE
C. WORK Life
DEVELOPING AND GROWING IN INTEGRITY
Once we come to Christ in faith and repentance, He gives us the
gift of the Holy Spirit who assists us in developing our incorruptible
integrity. It is impossible to have real integrity without Jesus as our
Lord and Savior. May the Lord give us strong integrity that becomes
incorruptible through the power of the Holy Spirit.
It’s self-evident that a hypocrite is unqualified to guide others toward
attaining higher character. No one respects a person who talks a
good game but fails to play by the rules.
What a leader does will have a greater impact on those he or
she wishes to lead than what a leader says. A person may
forget 90 percent of what a leader says, but he or she will
never forget how the leader lives.
Paul tells Timothy:
Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so
that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and
doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will
save both yourself and your hearers. 1 Timothy 4:15-16
In this life, we never attain perfection. But there should be
progress toward the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. We will
never attain it this side of eternity, but the there should be visible
progress, evident to others.
Notice the two things Paul exhorts Timothy to watch: your life and
your doctrine. In other words, give careful attention to your
behavior and your belief. Make sure they match.
Constantly examine yourself to see whether or not your walk
matches your talk.
1.
REPENTANCE
2.
CLEAR CONSCIENCE.
a. “So any person who knows what is right to do but
does not do it, to him it is sin.”
b. James 4:17 AMPC
3.
ACCEPTING, BELIEVING AND OBEYING THE WORD OF
GOD
“To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to
my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know
the truth, and the truth will set you free.””
John 8:31-32 NIV
4. MAKE YOURSELF ACCOUNTABLE
“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each
other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous
person is powerful and effective.”
James 5:16 NIV
5. OVERCOME FEAR
“Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the
Lord is kept safe.”
Proverbs 29:25 NIV
6.
LIVE AND WALK IN THE SPIRIT AND REFUSE TO YIELD
TO YOUR FLESH- Convenience and emotions
GAL 5:20
CONCLUSION:
The best way to discern whether or not we are making
progress is to ask ourselves, “How do I live when no one’s
looking?” It’s easy to look like a person of integrity when people
are watching, but do I live my private life with the same level of
consistency as I live my public life?
In the end, we become what our desires make us. Who we
become reveals what we really desire.
If you desire the praise of men, then you will become a certain
kind of person. But if you desire the praise of God, then
integrity will need to become a priority.
END HERE.
THE PROCESS OF INTEGRATION
Constantly examine yourself to see whether or not your walk
matches your talk.
David writes about the man “who keeps his oath even when it hurts”
(Psalm 15:4b). He is the man who “will never be shaken” (v. 5b).
There is simply no substitute for a man or woman of consistent
Christ-like character.
That doesn’t imply that any of us will be perfect. In fact, the New
Testament doesn’t call for perfect leaders; it calls for those who are
models of progress in their faith. We will all stumble in many ways,
but our desire is to see progress toward the integration of our
claims and our practice.
Secrecy and Small Things
The best way to discern whether or not we are making
progress is to ask ourselves, “How do I live when no one’s
looking?” It’s easy to look like a person of integrity when people
are watching, but do I live my private life with the same level of
consistency as I live my public life?
So much of our lives are consumed with what might be called
“image maintenance.” We spend vast amounts of energy trying to
get people to think about us the way we want to be thought about.
John Ortberg suggests, “Human conversation is largely an endless
attempt to convince others that we are more assertive or clever or
gentle or successful than they might think if we did not carefully
educate them.”
Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:1 are hard to get around: “Be careful not
to do your acts of righteousness before men, to be seen by them. If
you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.”
It’s possible to live one life publicly and another life privately.
That’s not integrity; it’s an invitation for God’s discipline.
We are to live with consistency in public and in private, because our
Father “sees what is done in secret” (Matthew 6:4). Since this is the
case, being faithful in small, secret things is a big deal. It may be
the case that God is far less concerned with your public persona
than he is in your private character. He may be more concerned
with how you manage your personal checking account than how
well you administer the books on a big business deal.
It’s in the small, secret places of self-evaluation that God’s grace
changes you and shapes you into the image of his Son.
In the end, we become what our desires make us. Who we
become reveals what we really desire.
If you desire the praise of men, then you will become a certain
kind of person. But if you desire the praise of God, then
integrity will need to become a priority.
As you sense the overwhelming holiness and INTEGRITY of our
Creator, you will understand how unraveled you are. But as you
focus on the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, you will
recognize that even though you may feel undone, you are not
undone because he has made you whole. His grace is sufficient, for
his power is made perfect in your weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).
REFERENCES:
1
Kouzes, James M., and Posner, Barry Z. Credibility: How leaders
gain and lose it, why people demand it (San Francisco: JosseyBass, 1993), 14.
2
Sproul, R.C. One Holy Passion (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1987).
3
R. Kent Hughes, Behold the Man (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books),
129-130.
4
Adapted from Howard Hendricks and William Hendricks, As Iron
Sharpens Iron (Chicago: Moody Press, 1995), 67-69.
5
John Ortberg, The Life You’ve Always Wanted (Grand Rapids:
Zondervan, 1997), 164.