In review of Job 8:5-7 Job explains “If I pray to God and seek his favor, and if I am pure and live with integrity, he will surely rise up and restore my happy home. And though I started with little, I will end with much” (NLT).
If I pray and seek his favor, and I do what it right, live with integrity, he will surely help and restore my home. Even though I started with little, he will provide much.
It’s tough to read a message about integrity, especially when I replay all the times I’ve fallen short, all the opportunities I’ve had to show integrity but didn’t, and all of my moral failures.
St. Augustine said that the confession of bad works is the beginning of good works.
If I want to be serious about becoming a person of integrity, the first step is to admit that I haven’t had integrity. I admit that I haven’t always keep my promises. I’ve gossiped, and liked it. I’ve slacked off on work priorities. I’ve pretended to be someone I’m not. I just admit it all to God!
A lot of people segment their lives and think they can live with integrity when they are harboring sin in one area of life, as long as it doesn’t affect the other areas. This can be referred to as the “Titanic myth.” The Titanic was supposed to be unsinkable because it was the first ship to segment and compartmentalize the hull. Theoretically, if the boat took on water in a certain area, you could batten down the hatch, and it wouldn’t sink the whole ship.
But in reality, a hole in the boat is a hole in the boat, and eventually it’s going to sink. That little area you thought you had under control will eventually take you down. And it will affect the people around me, because while sin is personal, it is never private.
I am not perfect, but the good news is that God doesn’t expect me to be! He does, however, expect me to have integrity, and the starting point is to own up to my sins, no matter how long the list is.
God is more interested in my heart than my sins. I’m never going to be perfect. I’m never going to be sinless. But I can sin less.
That is the choice of integrity.
If I pray and seek his favor, do what is right and live with integrity, help will surely help and restore me. The confession of bad works is the beginning of good works. To become a person of integrity, I must first admit that I haven't had integrity, I've failed to keep my promises, I've gossiped and slacked off. I've pretended to be someone I'm not. I admit it all to God. I can't really segment my life living with integrity in one area but harboring sin in another. It will affect the people around me, because while sin in personal, it's never private. I'm not perfect, however Gd doesn't expect me to be. God is more interested in my heart than my sins. I'll never be sinless, but I can sin less. This is the choice of integrity.
Father, I thank you for the reminder of integrity and what it means. I also thank you for reminding me that I can’t compartmentalize. This morning Father I pray for your Spirit to help remind me of Integrity in my life. I also pray for your wisdom and guidance for my day and for my leadership and interactions with others. These I pray in your Son Jesus name, amen.
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