After thinking so much about integrity, I believe this is one of the most important virtues (after humility) that a Christian must practice. Without it we are not trustworthy, we are wishy washy individuals who lack a serious and an indispensable character trait: believability.
After all, if we are not trustworthy and believable, how can we give witness of Christ to the world? Lacking integrity can damage whatever witness we give, and our proclamation of the risen Christ is just as equal as our other proclamations: unbelievable, and for the wrong reasons!
So What Exactly is Integrity?
It is hard to answer this question simply. Integrity is having your inner being (ideas, ideals, thoughts, values, etc...) integral or compatible with your outer being (behavior, words, actions etc...).
A simple way of answering this question is simply this: do whatever you say you will do!
Simple right?
This is perhaps one of the most difficult things we can do perfectly. In fact, this is pretty much impossible to do!
The only being who is perfect in integrity is (you guessed it!) God! After all, He can and will do whatever He sets out to do, and His plans will not be thwarted.
Us? Well, to practice integrity with perfection we would need to know with perfection everything that will happen that can become an obstacle to whatever we set out to do, and the assurance of our capacity to overcome such obstacles.
But before I go all Aristotle on y'all, it is important to note that there is always room to grow in our integrity!
Jesus Kills a Fig Tree!
The passage where Jesus curses a fig tree, found in Mathew and Mark, has always puzzled me. It seemed to me that Jesus was having a bad day. He was "hangry" and cursed a fig tree for only having leaves and not figs, despite the fact that it wasn't fig season.
I mean, geez, we all get a bit unreasonable when we are hungry. I know I am no saint here. But cursing a fig tree seems a little too much.
Of course, Jesus can be an enigma in this passage, but I agree with most Scholars that there is something deeper going on here.
The fig tree was cursed not because it had no fruits, but because by its leaves, it had the pretension to have fruits! In other words, the tree lacked integrity. It showed from the outside that it was a fruitful tree, but when investigated closely for its fruits, well, it had none.
Hypocrisy is just a symptom of lacking integrity. Moral of the story: Jesus doesn't like it when we are hypocrites.
Sometimes we say we will do things we don't really mean to do. We say it for many reasons: to save face, to not offend (yeah, actually, I really don't want to go to your birthday party), or to get someone off our back ( the check is in the mail!)
Sometimes we appear to be better than we actually are. We clean up our houses just before guests arrive to pretend that this is how clean we are. We wear our best clothes to impress. We do our best on the first month of our new job.
I am guilty of all those examples.
The Road to Integrity: Be Who You Are and Do What You Say You Will Do!
Do you suck at dancing? Then dance away horribly! Do you actually hate wine? Then stick to beer! Be unapologetic in your likes and honest in what you suck at!
I know. We want to impress and show our best sides. It is hard to suppress this want. And while I am not advocating that you go out and tell your darkest secrets to a horrified audience, if the opportunity comes between impressing and being honest, be honest.
As you do this you will be amazed at how many people accept you and like you, and even respect you for doing this. And the best part? Those who stick around will like you for the right reasons!
Also, do whatever you say you will do, big or small. You don't feel like doing it now? Too bad! You shouldn't have said you would!
This is perhaps the most difficult part of growing in integrity, but this radical practice of following up on all the things you say, big or small, will have 3 effects: you will become wiser, you will know yourself better, you will become trustworthy.
It will make you wiser because you will realize that you cannot do half the things you say you will! This will restrain our mouths in the future, makes us wiser and more choosy in what we say yes and no to.
It will help you know yourself since you will know what things you really can do, and what things you really cannot do. You will also know what comes easy to you, and what is an area of growth.
It will make you more trustworthy because your word would carry power, and people will trust that if you say you will do something, then you will make it happen, one way or the other. They may say about you "he or she doesn't say yes to everything, but what he or she say yes to, it will happen".
Think about the huge repercussions of this! How many people in the world are like this? Not many. And since people with this strong integrity are so rare, whenever someone finds someone like this they are hugely valued!
Now, we shouldn't practice integrity because it would make us more valued, or for fame or success. Let's pursue integrity for integrity's sake. Let us practice integrity because it helps others trust our witness of faith, and because in doing so, we are imitating Christ, whose promises never fail.
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