According to the dictionary, integrity is the quality of honesty, strong moral principles, and moral uprightness. In other words, it means doing what is right and being sincere with your words and actions even when you think nobody is watching or listening. Everybody wants to have this kind of personality trait. People like to interact daily with those who have integrity because there are many things that they won’t have to worry about when dealing with those who have this personality trait. Yet, we live in a world where integrity is becoming rarer. And it seems like we are becoming more afraid of each other instead of having the desire to connect because we don’t want to be deceived. Being deceived doesn’t feel good, no one wants to feel used, lied to, and manipulated. But what if we all make a difference in this specific area? What if we let our yeses be yes and our noes be no? And what if we all approach one another with the right motives and respect? I wonder if the world would be less heavy if we all strive to live a life of integrity.
God had to allow me to live long enough to realize that everything we do affects our lives and those around us. And the truth is everything flows from our day-to-day decisions. In Deuteronomy 30:19, God said: “This day I call the heavens and the earth as witness against you that I have set before you life and death, blesses and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.” Although there is nothing spectacular about this verse, it is a potent verse that can give us an idea about the reasons behind many of our sufferings. When we live a sincere life through our words and actions and decide to be the same person 24/7 and 7 days a week, this lifestyle does something in our hearts and souls that we cannot explain. An inner peace and joy that comes with it especially when you go to bed at night. And that is why you will find lots of opposition and temptations when you decide to live right.
Having a made-up mind to live with integrity can be quite challenging and whether you are aware of it or not, you always have an audience. This is another to tell you that someone is always watching you. It might be someone younger or older than you, someone the same age as you, your spouse, children, their friends, or even the birds and the cat next door. And more importantly, you also have an audience with two entities, God and the accuser of the brethren (Satan). God is watching you to protect you and help you get on the right path because He wants you to live. On the other hand, the accuser assigns specific demons to keep an eye on you to get you to derail from the correct path and ultimately destroy you.
God loves you so much that He doesn’t leave it up to Him but rather leaves it up to you to decide who is in your best interest. It’s like going to two stores to look for an item you need. You’ve found the exact item at both stores for the same price except that one store has it on sale “A buy one get one free”, so which store will you prefer to get the item from? This means God and Satan are watching you constantly, but still, you must choose which one of them you want closer to you. It’s all about deciding what is best for you.
Many Domino effects come with living a life of integrity that we often miss, and I would like to mention a few. Choosing to live a life of integrity catches God’s attention because God still seeks such people to bless them. God may not tell you that He sees you but trust and believe that He is keeping a record of all your good deeds, all your honest acts even when they were hard decisions, and all the compromising things that you said no to. So, always remember that God is watching your every move, thought, and word. He is watching to see whom He can entrust to His kingdom positions. And living a life of integrity puts you in the position of being the Holy Spirit’s mentee. Any mentor seeks to train people who are willing and passionate about the things in which he wants to train them.
Also living a life of integrity naturally draws others to you. People crave good and sincere-hearted people because these people can better serve them. Life is hard enough to deal with fake people and trust is necessary for everything we do such as marriage, business, church, friendships, etc. For example, if you know this company is a fraud, you will never do business with these people again, and sometimes even if they change later.
And lastly, living a life of integrity leaves a legacy. There are things that your loved ones and other people around you will not learn better elsewhere other than from you because you have direct access to their hearts, which means you get to build them with God’s help so that they can live more efficiently; so why not teach them from the get-go the key principles to life that God has taught you? and in return, they will teach their loved ones and others. Always remember that you are a role model everywhere you go. It might look like no one notices your integrity and all your efforts, but they do and most importantly God does. And if you keep your integrity even when it’s hard and you think no one is watching, God will lift you and surprise you when you least expect it. Remember, it all starts with you so, keep doing the right thing!
SCRIPTURES
“The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity” Proverbs 11:3
“The Lord detests lying lips, but He delights in people who are trustworthy” Proverbs 12:22
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